On Tuesday, two flights to Amisi and Punia brought 61 refugees to Goma. A river barge set out on Tuesday from Mbandaka in the northwest to Ingende to pick up the first of some 300 refugees there. An airlift for 620 refugees at Kapanga, east of the Angolan border, is due to start on Thursday. Local authorities say 14,000 refugees are gathered in small groups around Shabunda, Katshungu and Lungungu. Aid agencies have withdrawn staff from towns in eastern Angola threatened by fighting, Reuters reported yesterday.
Observers say it threatens Angola's fragile peace process.
Tensions have escalated in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces on the Angola-Congo border. The UN says its efforts are now focussed on keeping the peace process active and preventing tensions in the north from escalating into serious military conflict. The current total of Burundian refugees in Kigoma now stands at 202,539. Approximately 100,000 Burundians are also in camps in the Ngara region. The secretary-general of Amnesty International, Pierre Sane, today repeated his criticisms of the Kenyan government's human rights record.