Uganda - OCHA: 21-Apr-05
OCHA Situation Report
Uganda
Report for March 2005
21 April 2005
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
I. SECURITY
SECURITY OVERVIEW
Insecurity in northern Uganda remained a challenge to both humanitarian
agencies and civilians. Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
continued wrecking havoc in villages and IDP camps, looting, abducting
and killing. The LRA unleashed a rare form of brutality that had not
been seen in recent years - that of mutilating people. Rebels chopped
off lips, breasts and other body parts of civilians found venturing
outside IDP camps, reportedly on orders of LRA leader, Joseph Kony, in
apparent revenge for the surrender of LRA commanders Onen Kamdulu and
Brigadier Sam Kolo in February.
The UN Deputy Field Security Officer, Michael McNulty, reported to
Gulu district, from where he will oversee security in northern
Uganda.
A peace team from Gulu, comprising the district LCV Chairman, the
Paramount Chief, religious leaders and Members of Parliament,
travelled to The Hague to lobby the International Criminal Court on
delaying the war crimes prosecution process.
DISTRICT SECURITY UPDATE
Gulu - There were reports of LRA movements throughout the district, and
of rebels mutilating civilians. Several areas, including Amuru-Omee,
Awach-Palaro, Omoro, Minakulu, Awoo Bobi, Opit, Lalogi, and Awere
remained unsafe, with large LRA crossings reported from Apac district.
LRA Commander Vincent Otti was reported to have crossed back into Sudan.
However, later reports towards the end of March indicated that he had
returned to the Kilak hills.
Kitgum - Insecurity in the northern part of Kitgum near the Sudan border
remained a challenge to humanitarian actors, hindering access to about
40,000 IDPs in the region. The deteriorating security situation was
reportedly orchestrated by a fresh batch of about 300 LRA rebels, who
reportedly crossed over from Sudan and began unleashing atrocities upon
civilians, looting IDPs' property, attacking military detachments,
killing and mutilating civilians.
Pader - Security continued to deteriorate, with frequent attacks on UPDF
(Ugandan army) detachments. There were unconfirmed reports that the UPDF
soldiers in the district had been withdrawn for deployment in the
peace-keeping exercise in Somalia. This seems to have spurred the morale
of the LRA rebels, who carried out attacks on UPDF detachments and IDP
camps. The early onset of the first rains in the northern region
worsened the situation, as the vegetation grew thicker, making it
difficult for the UPDF to spot the rebels.
Lira - The security situation in the district, except for Aromo
sub-county and Otuke county, remained generally calm. In Aromo and
Otuke, LRA movements were random and fluid, and attacks, abductions and
killings caused a lot of fear among IDPs, preventing them from tending
their fields. The UPDF continued to advise IDPs not to venture outside
the camps before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. Nonetheless, all access
roads and IDP camps remained open to humanitarian agencies.
Teso sub-region (Soroti, Katakwi and Kaberamaido districts) - The region
continued to enjoy relative calm. In Katakwi, however, reports toward
the end of the month that LRA rebels had been seen in Orungo sub-county,
caused a lot of panic. Several people who had returned to their villages
in Orungo near the border with Lira district, moved into the bigger
camps for security. While authorities in Katakwi say that the situation
is not alarming, there has been an increased need for humanitarian
assistance in the main camps where people have flocked.
II. IDP MOVEMENT AND CAMP ISSUES
Gulu - There were civilian movements away from Minakulu, 35 km south of
Gulu, due to increased rebel presence and other insecurity incidents,
including abductions and killings. In Bobi camp, about 24km south of
Gulu town, children started commuting again because of a large and
persistent rebel presence near the camp. For nearly four months, there
were no night commuters in Bobi camp. The Lacor night commuter centre
registered a slight increase in night commuters, although other centres
in the municipality have registered a small decline. According to
records from UNICEF, there were, on average, about 11,000 night
commuters in Gulu per day in March.
Kitgum - Some IDPs from Kitgum Matidi and Lagoro were reported to have
spontaneously relocated to Oryang, a new settlement seven 7 km east of
Kitgum. This brought to three the number of satellite camps recently
established by IDPs in Kitgum. The others are Ogili in Palabek and
Akilok in Orom sub-counties. UNICEF, ICRC and other aid agencies planned
assessments of the situation in these camps. The Kitgum District
Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) set up a Return and Resettlement
Task Force to develop a return plan, including the voluntary
decongestion of IDP settlements; and to set standards for the
development of new IDP settlements.
Pader - Some IDPs were reportedly moving to Omot and Lukole
sub-counties. However, both sub-counties lack schools, and the nearest,
Ngora Primary School, is 3kms away, making access to it difficult due to
late deployment of soldiers on the main road.
Lira - People continued migrating from the urban camps/areas (IDPs
living with host families) to rural camps. IDPs also returned from Apac
and other areas outside Lira. The population in most of the rural camps
has increased by about 30% since December 2005. An inter-agency
assessment in March highlighted the disparity between the old planning
figures (WFP verification exercise, October 2004) and the current
reality in the camps. This calls for a new verification exercise.
Teso - Most parts of Teso sub-region had started receiving rainfall by
mid March, prompting movement of IDPs to camps nearer their areas of
origin, while leaving behind some members of their families, especially
children and the elderly. Although most IDPs, especially in Katakwi, may
not be able to access their own land, they can borrow some portions of
land for cultivation from their hosting communities.
III. ACCESS ISSUES
Gulu - The Awach-Palaro area remained extremely insecure and
inaccessible, and district security officials advised some aid agencies
against travelling there. The Amuru-Omee area was also extremely unsafe,
although agencies could access it with military escort. The UPDF
restricted IDP movements to a maximum of 2km outside the camps.
Despite the insecurity, IDPs slowly began accessing their land for the
first planting season, as the rains started.
Kitgum - In the face of increased security, agencies raised concern
about the composition of soldiers escorting aid workers, complaining
about the limited numbers and quality of soldiers. It is alleged that
UPDF soldiers who used to provide escort services were withdrawal from
the north to serve in the peacekeeping operation in Somalia and replaced
by ill-trained and ill-equiped local militias.
Following requests by aid agencies for more access to land for IDPs to
cultivate, district security officials considered increasing the
'protected radius' around camps from 1km to between two and three
kilometres. However, given the recent deterioration in security,
increased access to land is only likely to be achieved in areas where
security is relatively stable.
Lira - All IDP camps and access roads are open to humanitarian agencies.
Rebel movements, abductions and killing were reported in Aromo and Amugo
sub-counties, and Otuke county, but this did not deter humanitarian
agencies from accessing the areas, as the threat was not considered to
be so serious.
IV. REFUGEE ISSUES
REFUGEE MOVEMENTS
In March, UNHCR Uganda registered 1,621 new arrivals (895 in Pakelle and
726 in Arua), a dramatic increase, according to the refugee agency. The
main reasons for the refugee movements are:
Insecurity due to LRA activities: The majority of the new arrivals
came from the IDP camps in Mugali, Magwi and Nimule in Southern
Sudan, following attacks by the LRA.
Food insecurity
Family reunification: Another group of new arrivals came from
Katigiri, Lainya Rojo and Juba county. These, most of whom were
mainly women and children from Juba, were returning to their homes
but found that their relatives had relocated to Rhino Camp and Imvepi
or Koboko.
Forced recruitment by SPLA: unconfirmed refugees reports indicate
that SPLA is carrying out forced recruitment.
Education opportunities: Many of the new arrivals from Maridi area
came in search of education opportunities, claiming that the schools
in Sudan were expensive.
Social-cultural factors: Some female new arrivals reported that they
had to face problems related to 'wife inheritance'.
Insecurity: Refugees coming from Bar-el-Ghazel claimed that there is
currently rampant tribal fighting among the Agar vs Ngok and Apuk
Dinka tribes . Reasons for this fighting were cattle rustling and
women. In Aweil and Gogorial, some militia known as Murahiliin were
abducting children and women and looting property and cattle.
SECURITY
The LRA has continued destabilising refugee settlements in Adjumani
district. Security incidents reported in March included an attack in
Melijo, close to Olua refugee settlement (south east of Pakelle) on 25
and the 26 March. Some13 people were abducted to carry looted food and
non food items, one of whom has not returned.
PROTECTION
The main protection issue is the physical safety of refugees living in
settlements east of Adjumani district and in the Zoka belt (south of
Adjumani). The capacity of the LRA to attack is extremely high, and
there is concern that the UPDF is unable to provide adequate security to
civilians. The insecurity is likely to prevent refugees displaced by the
LRA attacks last year from returning to their original settlements.
Meanwhile, some 800 new arrivals are still living at the reception
centre in Palorinya, due to lack of land for agricultural and
residential purposes. The overcrowded situation is fertile ground for
the spread of epidemics and SGBV. The steady increasing in the number of
new arrivals can only worsen the situation if a solution - i.e. the
establishment of a new settlement - is not found immediately. Land for
the establishment of new settlement has already been identified, but
national authorities (National Forest Authority and Office of the Prime
Minister) are yet to consider the setting of new settlements as a top
priority.
V. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
FOOD SECURITY
Insecurity in northern Uganda remained the biggest obstacle to
cultivation, in spite of the onset of the rainy season. Several IDPs
caught venturing outside the camps in search of food, water or firewood,
and those found tending their fields, were abducted, mutilated or
killed. This has rendered the population in the Acholi sub-region (Gulu,
Kitgum and Pader) perpetually dependent on food distributed by WFP and
other humanitarian agencies. Meanwhile, according to FewsNet, food
conditions continued to deteriorate in Karamoja in March, where
approximately 117,000 people were currently receiving food assistance
with the number expected to increase to 570,000 by April 2005.
Declining livestock prices and high cereal prices were projected to
lower pastoral households' ability to procure food. A good season is
imperative to improve crop and livestock production and replenish food
stocks.
PUBLIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION
In spite of the alarm caused by the incidence of cholera in Gulu the
previous month, no cases were reported in April. There were reports of
rabies in Anaka camp, where four people reportedly died after being
bitten by stray dogs. District health officials were yet to intervene.
In Kitgum, agencies involved in the health sector, including the DDHS
and UNICEF mounted a massive immunization campaign against polio (OPV),
measles and other child related diseases. The exercise covered about
75,470 children between the ages of one month to five years. About
33,200 adolescent girls, childbearing women and lactating mothers were
vaccinated against tetanus. According to the DDHS, the vaccination
campaign was successful, with about 95% coverage for measles and 85% for
OPV.
In Teso sub-region, OCHA mobilised stakeholders to discuss the problem
of sleeping sickness. In response, WFP acknowledged the need to support
sleeping sickness patients in Lwala hospital and was considering to
provide food for 70 patients and one attendant each at the hospital for
three months.
WATER AND SANITATION
The major issue in this sector was the need to enhance coordination at
field level. In some districts in northern Uganda, agencies in the
sector started working towards promoting best practices, including the
management and use of water and sanitation tools distributed in IDP
camps, harmonization of hygiene promotion strategies, recruitment and
management of volunteers and other approaches. Lack of coordination in
the sector has led to poor community participation and management.
EDUCATION
The salient issues in the education sector in the conflict-affected
districts include:
Continued lack of accommodation for teachers;
School feeding programme still not implemented by WFP;
Weak management of learning centres in IDP camps;
Lack of reliable data from schools in camps, regarding enrolment; and
Large numbers of children still not going to school in spite of the
availability of the service and scholastic materials.
SHELTER AND NON-FOOD ITEMS
Humanitarian agencies continued distribution of non-food items,
including blankets, clothes, soap and cooking utensils, in IDP camps.
However, IDPs in rural camps identified a gap in shelter materials,
particularly complaining about the long distances they have to travel in
search of thatch and poles for construction. Having to venture outside
the camps places the displaced people at a risk of abduction or death in
the hands of LRA rebels. Furthermore, fire outbreaks in some IDP camps
continued to be a menace in Gulu, causing heavy loses and leaving
thousands of already vulnerable households homeless.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTECTION
The major protection and human rights issues included:
Allegations of arrest of civilians by the UPDF and detention in
military barracks;
Restriction by the UPDF of IDPs' access to farmland, in some cases to
no more than 1km outside the camps due to insecurity.
VI. POLICY ISSUES
The main policy issues in March included the following:
While partners have been called upon to support the implementation of
the IDP policy, many agencies are still concerned about the
government's commitment and contributions/resources to its
implementation.
The custody of children from captivity has become a major policy
issue, as the former LRA commanders demand the custody of their
children, along with the mothers/ 'wives', some of them below 18
years of age. The lack of acceptance by the families and communities
of these child mothers is of great concern, hence the need for the
Department of Community Services to become more involved with the
relevant child agencies in such a serious protection issue.
The lack of support for the IDPs in northern Apac district has been
raised in different fora. Many of these IDPs bordering Gulu district
are forced to seek relief assistance from Gulu camps such as Bobi,
Lalogi and Opit. WFP and OCHA are considering carrying out an
assessment in these camps.
The UPDF continues to restrict the movements of IDPs, and their
access to land, to a limited distance from the camp borders for
security reasons, thus affecting food security, while the constant
quest for food security by many camp residents remains a very
hazardous undertaking.
The need for the creation of fire breaks to avoid camp fires through
the erection of low gauged iron sheets requires serious consideration
from aid agencies and the government. This has been the worst year
for fires yet. The de-congestion exercise at Pabbo has been useful,
but it has been slow and expensive. Moreover, it is questionable in
the current poor security environment whether the army would allow
more sites to be created.
There appears to be no consistency in the messages which the ICC is
receiving about its prosecution process in northern Uganda. A high
level delegation from Gulu went to The Hague to lobby for a delay in
the issuing of arrest warrants to senior LRA officers. Later,
however, there appears to be a high level delegation from Pader,
travelling to The Hague to argue for the prosecutions to begin. In
March, the Minister of State for Northern Rehabilitation made it
clear that the government wanted the ICC prosecution to go ahead as
soon as possible.
VII. MISSIONS AND VISITS
The main missions to the conflict-affected districts in March included
the following:
A large USAID mission visited the northern districts to examine post-
conflict recovery planning.
The ECHO desk officer for Brussels and the ECHO programme officer and
administrator from Kampala also undertook a visit to most of the war
affected districts. The aim was to assess the current humanitarian
gaps and how ECHO's strategy for 2005 would address them. The biggest
gap remains in the water and sanitation sector.
Ms Elizabeth Lwanga, Director of the Africa Bureau in UNDP New York,
visited northern Uganda .The visit was partly to consolidate UNDP's
thinking on recovery interventions in the region.
The US Ambassador to WFP and FAO in Rome, Tony Hall, visited the
north and went out with WFP and FAO on respective food and seed
distributions.
Officials from the Swiss Development Co-operation visited northern
Uganda on a follow-up mission to their visit last year. They met with
IDPs and night commuters.
VIII. AFFECTED POPULATIONS
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|REFUGEES as | | | |
|of end | | | |
|February | | | |
|2005 | | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
| District | Settlement | Number | Trend |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Adjumani |Refugees - Su | 63,042| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Arua |Imvepi - Su, Br, DRC | 26,516| ** |
| |Rhino - Su, DRC, Ky, Ng | 26,858| ** |
| |Madi Okollo - Su | 7,677| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Yumbe |Ikafe - Su | 9,826| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Hoima |Kyangwali - DRC, Su, RW,| 18,324| ** |
| |Ky, Br, So | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Kabarole |Kyaka II - DRC | 10,874| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Mbarara |Oruchinga - Rw | 2,485| ** |
| |Nakivale - DRC, Rw, So,| 12,238| ** |
| |Ky, Et, Su, Br | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Masindi |Kiryandongo - Su | 15,596| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Moyo |Palorinya - Su | 36,528| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Urban |Mixed | 210| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Total | | 230,174| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|IDPS as of | | | |
|end February| | | |
|2005 | | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
| District | Camps | Number | Trend |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Gulu |51 | 515,309| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Kitgum |17 | 269,809| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Pader |28 | 279,589| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Lira |Rural camps - 39 (whole | 279,091| ** |
| |district) | 20,192| ** |
| |Municipality (EVIs/IDPs) | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Apac |Northern Apac |Numbers | |
| | |not known | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Teso Region |Soroti - 4 |IDPs now not | |
| |Katakwi - 9 |receiving | |
| |Kaberamaido - 4 |relief food | |
| | |distributions | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Total | | 1,363,990| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|DROUGHT | | | |
|AFFECTED as | | | |
|of end | | | |
|February | | | |
|2005 | | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
| Region | District | Number | Trend |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Karamoja |Moroto, Kotido | 410,000| ** |
| |Nakapiripirit | | |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
|Total | | 410,000| ** |
|------------+-------------------------+--------------+--------|
Note
The contents of this Update do not necessarily represent the views of
the United Nations. Sources for the Update include Government, UN, NGOs,
donors, IOs and news agencies.
Figures for the displaced people do not reflect "night commuters" in the
towns. It should also be noted that the figures fluctuate according to
the prevailing security situation.
The refugee figures are as of the end of February 2005. IDP figures are
as of end March 2005 and they reflect the numbers of displaced fed by
WFP and not necessarily the number of internally displaced in the
country.
The drought affected figures of Karamoja are WFP planning figures. The
Karamoja region has 125,000 very high risk individuals, and 285,000 are
low risk
The trend will remain as ** unless there is a change (either increase or
decrease) of 500 people.
For more information or to contribute, contact:
UN OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA)
15A CLEMENT HILL ROAD RUTH TOWERS-Kampala
TEL/FAX: (+256 31) 242 804-9 / 242 801
EMAIL: namulindwa@un.org or ocha-uganda@un.org
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