Katanga Province, D.R.Congo
The Forgotten People of the Forgotten War
March 16-17, 2006
Upemba - This is a very unique and troubling situation in the Lac Upemba region. As a result of the violence some people have resorted to fleeing into Upemba N.P. and displacing themselves upon “floating islands” which in many cases can be somewhat unstable for inhabitance. According to people that have gone in to see these IDPs, they have placed themselves there, because it’s the only place they feel safe, surrounded by the water. They know that the Mai Mai as well as the FARDC won’t be able to reach them on any large scale, if at all. This area is so remote, taking people roughly about four days just to reach them. There is no access to roads, and landing a plane in this terrain would be almost impossible. However, these IDPs do have two critical elements right at their doorstep: food & water. To a large degree, there is a lot of safety from any of the outside entities.