UNCERTAINTY IN EQUATEUR PROVINCE KEEPS POPULATION ON EDGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000026 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF EAID PGOV PHUM MOPS PINR CG SUBJECT: UNCERTAINTY IN EQUATEUR PROVINCE KEEPS POPULATION ON EDGE REF: 09 KINSHASA 1144; 09 KINSHASA 1033; 09 KINSHASA 997 09 BRAZZAVILLE 362 AND PREVIOUS; 09 BANGUI 274 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The local population in the Dongo region of Equateur Province remains concerned about insecurity. Refugees continue to flee into neighboring Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic (CAR),while the number of IDPs is difficult to ascertain due to on-going insecurity and the geographical isolation of the area. Despite the challenges, humanitarian organizations have registered small inroads into the area, providing assistance to the still fearful IDP population. Humanitarian and international organizations have developed three different scenarios to anticipate future needs in the region. The FARDC has apparently retaken several key towns, including the insurgents' stronghold of Enyele. MONUC told us that the GDRC has emphasized that it will first secure the region militarily before it will engage in any negotiations with the rebels. The FARDC is apparently feeding and equipping its forces in the area; this is thought to be positively influencing troop discipline in the area. End summary. Situation remains tense -------------- ¶2. (U) Over two and a half months after fighting broke out between the Enyele and Manzaya tribes over fishing rights, then devolving into a quasi-uprising against the GDRC (ref B),the situation in Equateur Province remains unstable. Despite FARDC successes against the Enyele insurgents, the local population remains in a state of flux, caught between a desire to return home and the fear of violence that lingers in the area. Both refugees and IDPs are living in difficult conditions compounded by the challenges of providing humanitarian assistance in remote and insecure areas. ¶3. (U) According to OCHA, there are approximately 85,000 Congolese refugees in Congo-Brazzaville as a result of the conflict in Equateur (ref D). In addition, UNHCR estimates 15,000 locals have fled the DRC and taken refuge in the Central African Republic (ref E). In limited locations, the refugees continue to return slowly, but the situation is still tense. Many homes in places of return were burned, making the transition more difficult. ¶4. (U) Continued insecurity has made humanitarian assistance in the area extremely difficult. The city of Dongo remains a ghost town, while smaller localities, such as Bozene and Boyazala, have experienced some returnee movement (Note: a MONUC contact who recently visited the area estimated that only 30% of Bozene's population of 18,000 had returned. End note.). Numbers of IDPs are more difficult to ascertain due to the many unstable and insecure zones in the province. OCHA estimated the IDP population at approximately 60,000. These numbers will likely increase as additional data from previously insecure zones becomes available. Some assistance for IDPs arriving -------------- ¶5. (U) Because of the slightly improved security situation in two locales near Gemena, the UN World Food Program started food distribution on December 31. More than 50 metric tons of food assistance - under MONUC escort - departed Gemena for distribution sites at Bozene and Boyazala. Local NGO AVEP will distribute the food rations consisting of maize, beans, vegetable oil and salt for one month to 6,000 thousand IDPs in these two areas. This group of IDPs fled the initial wave of violence in late October-early November around Dongo, returning when the situation seemingly approved. They registered and then fled in a second wave of violence and displacement between Dongo and Budjala, including Bozene. The distribution has received support from the district commissioner who has attempted to set up mechanisms to ensure those receiving the rations are true IDPs. ¶6. (U) WFP workers on the ground found the population "jumpy and terrified of the FARDC." After receiving the rations, they quickly returned to the forest instead of their homes in the village. To date, there are no reports of FARDC perpetrating human rights violations in the area. This is the first food distribution in the region since the fighting began in late October 2009. Medecins Sans Frontieres is also on the ground providing assistance. Other international NGOs in the province are ACTED, OXFAM, CRB, MAG, SNV, Memisa, CDI, CTB, Fondation Damien, and ASF/PSI. KINSHASA 00000026 002 OF 002 Scenarios driving humanitarian planning -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Humanitarian organizations have developed three different scenarios to plan their assistance. The first and most optimistic is that the conflict will remain contained in the Dongo region with a maximum number of about 120,000 displaced persons (30,000 IDPs and 90,000 refugees). The most likely scenario is that the South Ubangui region will remain in low-level conflict, with approximately 150,000 IDPs and 120,000 refugees. The worst case scenario is that fighting between FARDC and rebels in both South and North Ubangui will create 250,000-300,000 IDPs and 150,000 refugees from the Gemena-Libenge-Dongo triangle. A humanitarian assessment team composed of WFP, OCHA, UNICEF and MONUC is scheduled to visit the Dongo area on January 9. Political and military situation -------------- ¶8. (SBU) MONUC contacts told polcouns that there were now 500 UN troops in the area, consisting of Tunisian, Ghanaian, Egyptian, and Guatemalan forces pulled from Kinshasa and the Eastern DRC. Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs) have been established at Dongo and Bozene. ¶9. (SBU) MONUC cannot independently verify FARDC claims that 157 insurgents had been killed over the last several days. MONUC does believe FARDC assertions that the rebels are retreating from areas they had previously held. The rebels reportedly fell back to their stronghold at the village of Enyele, and were subsequently forced to retreat to Buburu and Bomongo. ¶10. (SBU) MONUC highlighted the GDRC's apparent clear preference to stabilize the security situation before any negotiations with the insurgents could begin. Discipline amongst the FARDC forces appears to be good; the FARDC reportedly provided its forces in the area with rations from South Africa, improved radio communication capabilities, and vehicles. ¶11. (SBU) MONUC lauded the transparent and positive collaboration displayed by Congo-Brazzaville authorities, noting that ROC forces had moved quickly to provide a modicum of security along the Ubangui River, the primary mode of transportation in the area. A joint DRC-ROC parliamentary mission could not reach Dongo. There were rumors that there had been opposition from some local politicians to the mission, but the details remain unclear. The local population, according to MONUC, has asked for more blue helmets to be deployed. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: The ongoing conflict in Equateur continues to render humanitarian assistance and information gathering about IDPs extremely difficult. A MONUC escort is required for humanitarians delivering food assistance. As WFP observers noted, the population appears to be more afraid of the FARDC than of the initial conflict, although the GDRC security forces, to our knowledge, have been careful not to engage in blatant human rights violations, as they often have in other DRC conflict zones. End comment GARVELINK