Influx of DRC refugees into Uganda expected to double amid clashes with M23 rebels

A surge of refugees fleeing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is tearing apart families and stretching aid resources, according to Uganda’s government and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The UNHCR says officials were prepared to help some 68,000 Congolese refugees expected in Uganda, but now 150,000 are predicted to arrive by year’s end. Congolese refugees stream across Uganda’s western border with the DR of Congo (DRC) to escape nearly a year of fighting between M23 rebels and DRC government troops. Many refugees crossing into Uganda say they were forced to flee to safety to escape gunfire. The UNHCR says 71,000 refugees have crossed into Uganda from the DRC since January, and that number is expected to more than double by the end of the year.
According to UNHCR’s Uganda representative Matthew Crentsil, as a result, the available funding “is woefully inadequate to cover the growing needs of these refugees.“ Ugandan officials say a holding center for refugees has been opened to support the overflowing transit center, which already hosts some 14,000 refugees. The M23 rebels launched attacks on DRC forces in 2012, saying they were fighting for good governance. After being quiet for nearly a decade, the group resumed fighting in late 2021, seizing territory and causing refugees to flee the violence. Congo has repeatedly accused its smaller central African neighbor Rwanda of backing the M23, a charge Kigali denies.