[Picture from same article - copyright irinnews.org,
13/12/2012 - UNHCR/J.Redden]
13.12.2012. Over the past five weeks,
almost 1,000 people have fled into Zambia to escape fighting in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), forcing the Zambian government to consider re-opening
a refugee camp it closed two years ago.
The refugees are pouring into Kilwa
Island, on Lake Mweru, from villages in DRC’s Katanga Province. The island,
located on the Zambian side of the lake, is about an hour by boat from the DRC
border.
“Our concern is that there is only one
water borehole on the island,” said Joyce Mends-Cole, the country
representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Zambia. “Though the number
of refugees has stabilized, we are not sure if the situation might worsen.”
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