Uganda Accepts 3,000 Congolese Refugees Fleeing Clashes - UN

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) Uganda has taken in 3,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo after they escaped militia attacks on their villages, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.

The East African nation temporarily reopened its borders last week to let people cross over from the northeastern Congolese province of Ituri after spending months in no-man's land.

"UNHCR welcomes the decision by the Government of Uganda to allow the group of refugees to enter the country and receive life-saving aid and protection," Charlie Yaxley said in a statement.

The UN agency estimated that 65 percent of the arrivals were children. There were also 33 pregnant women, two of whom gave birth shortly after they were brought to a health center.

The refugees, part of a larger group of 45,000 people who fled violence in DR Congo, will be tested for the new coronavirus and quarantined at an old training center for farmers for two weeks before they are moved to refugee settlements.