NYAKABANDE TRANSIT CENTER IN KISORO OVERWHELMED WITH REFUGEES

By Libino Byamukama
In Kisoro

Over 138,000 refugees are said to have fled to Uganda from the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan since early 2022.
Among them, 98,000 fled from Eastern DR Congo while the rest fled from South Sudan.

Polyn Abina, the Western region refugee desk officer under Office of the Prime Minister, revealed this today during a meeting with a delegation of European Union ambassadors at Nyakabade refugee transit center.

Polyn also revealed that the transit center in Nyakabande is overwhelmed with refugees who are in processes of being transferred to settlements.

She noted that the transit currently holds over 900 individuals instead of 700, which brings in a challenge of shortage of resources.

The Deputy Director of program operations at Save the Children, Peruth Natumanya says that over 1497 children have also fled fighting in North Kivu province since last year.

She says that the children are forced to escape from Nyakabande holding center and at times Nakivale settlement camp due to lack of conducive services like accommodation and enough food.

Meanwhile, refugees at the transit expressed poor feeding concerns saying that they only feed on posh and beans.

Speaking to journalists, The UNHCR country representative in Uganda, Matthew Crentsil said that partners have always stressed resources to ensure that refugees feed on a balanced diet.

He noted that the refugee influx makes planning for them difficult.