NAIROBI: The United Nations appealed for $33 million in urgent funding to help more than 80,000 people who have fled to Burundi after the latest advance by Rwanda-backed militants in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
After seizing the major Congolese cities of Goma in January and Bukavu in February, the M23 armed group launched a new offensive in early December near the Burundian border, even as Rwanda and the DRC signed a peace agreement in Washington.
The M23 on December 10 took control of Uvira, a city of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, giving it control of the land border with the DRC’s ally Burundi.
Under US pressure, the group said it would withdraw from Uvira but some of its police and intelligence agents were still deployed in the city on Thursday, according to local and security sources.
“Following recent violent clashes in South Kivu, notably around Uvira... a significant influx of refugees has occurred since December 5, with an estimated arrival of nearly 80,000 people through various entry points,” said the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
