Aid convoy finds Congolese refugee camps empty

Where have all the refugees gone? The question is being asked after a UN aid convoy entered a rebel-held zone in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for the first time since heavy fighting last week.

Camps for displaced people are virtually deserted.

The UN refugee agency fears at least 50,000 civilians may have abandoned or been forced out of unprotected camps around Rutshuru, 70 kilometres north of the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma.

There, an overnight curfew has been declared.
Renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda’s rebels are camped outside the city. He says they will oust the government unless it changes its position and agrees to direct talks.

After visiting the region, the foreign ministers of Britain and France have been reporting their findings to European counterparts.

Bernard Kouchner told reporters a permanent solution needs to be found.
“We can’t keep trying to come to the rescue,” the French minister said. “That does not work.”

He and Britain’s David Miliband want a major reorganisation of the 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force already deployed.

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