Tag Archives: Emergencies

January 18, 2013 · 5:08 PM

Rebel repatriation goes wrong in Congo leading to new crisis

An effort to repatriate Rwanda rebels currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ended in violence that’s forced thousands to flee.

250 rebels from Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) plus 500 of their dependents gave themselves up for repatriation to Congolese government troops and local militias in Walungu, South Kivu in eastern Congo on 2 January.

But the plan went wrong and ended in heavy fighting between the Rwandan rebels and the Congolese forces. Further fighting has ensued and the rebels have now escaped into the forest.

Over 5,800 families have been forced to flee because of the fighting. Caritas Bukavu is working in the area to provide emergency food rations for one or two weeks, thanks to funds received from Caritas members.

Read the full story in French

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December 14, 2012 · 4:45 PM

Temperature drop in Lebanon leaving Syrian refugees out in cold

Syrian refugee children face a cold winter in Bekaa Valley. Credit: De Voogd

Syrian refugee children face a cold winter in Bekaa Valley. Credit: De Voogd

By Jos de Voogd, Bekaa Valley

The news this week is that more than 500,000 Syrian refugees have been registered by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in the region, and the numbers are climbing by more than 3,000 per week as the conflict escaltes.

Lebanon is the smallest of Syria’s neighbouring countries and bears one of the greatest burdens. There are 154,000 refugees are formerly registered or waiting for registration there.

According to Kamal Sioufi, board member of Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre this brings a heavy burden on the Lebanese society.

“We have a history of conflict and of refugees coming to our country,” he said. “Lebanon already hosts a large numbers of Palestinians and to lesser extend Iraqi refugees. If the number of Syrian refugees keeps rising and if this situation will again last for years, we fear instability”. Continue reading →

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· 1:27 PM

Caritas prepares for emergency response as Samoa hit by Cyclone Evan

By Angela Ford

Caritas emergency response teams in the Pacific are preparing for emergency relief as one of the most powerful cyclones to hit Samoa in 20 years devastates Apia.

Cyclone Evan made landfall on Thursday 13 December, with winds up to 160 km per hour. At least two people have died, and many are missing.

Samoa has declared a state of disaster with widespread structural damage to outlying buildings, homes and critical infrastructure. Locals have been left without power and food shortages are possible.

Caritas Samoa report that flooding in Apia is widespread, powerlines and trees are down and many homes are destroyed. Flooding is the major cause for concern in the short-term, with water levels up to 8ft in areas. Continue reading →

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December 13, 2012 · 10:33 AM

Rescuing child soldiers in Congo’s war

Caritas staff member talks with former child soldiers at a centre in Massisi. Photo: Taylor Toeka, Caritas Goma

Caritas staff member talks with former child soldiers at a centre in Massisi. Photo: Taylor Toeka, Caritas Goma

By Taylor Toeka,

Although international law has called for an end the recruitment of children into armed forces for over a decade, in the Democratic Republic of Congo the practice is widespread.

Conflict continues to grip Congo, especially in the eastern part with the recent clashes between M23 and the army in North Kivu and over the regional capital Goma. The recruitment and illegal use of children in armed groups remains an alarming reality there.

In Rubaya, 60 km west of Goma, a man speaks into his walkie-talkie. He is part of an armed group that controls this mining region. At his sides are the kadogo fighters, these child soldiers are cherished by the rebel leaders.

“They are naive, obedient and faithful,” said a rebel commander.

Caritas Goma is the local Caritas organisation in North Kivu. Reuniting children separated by conflict is a central part of their work. Since the start of the year to the end of November, Caritas Goma has reunified 771 child soldiers (of which 18 were girls) with their families.

Caritas meets with military and civil leadership to discuss with them the rights of child. Caritas staff members negotiate with military officers to release children to their transit centres, where Caritas will keep them safe and provide counselling so they can return home. The children stay for about three months, after that they get the chance to go back to school or learn a trade.

But with the area teaming with armed groups, former child soldiers are frequently seized again. To stop this viscous cycle, Caritas staff members document serious violations and abuses of children by working with all the communities in the region.

en français  Continue reading →

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December 10, 2012 · 4:59 PM

Typhoon Bopha leaves trail of destruction in Philippines

Concepcion Ondocan is coping with loss after so many of her friends and neighbors were killed in a mudslide that swept away 300 homes. Photo by Jen Hardy/CRS

Concepcion Ondocan is coping with loss after so many of her friends and neighbours were killed in a mudslide that swept away 300 homes. Photo by Jen Hardy/CRS

By Jen Hardy, CRS Communications Officer

Lush trees dominate the landscape in the tropical Philippines. But in this mountainous section of Mindanao, brown, barren landscape now stretches into the distance.

The trees that stayed standing were stripped bare on 3 December, as Typhoon Bopha devastated areas of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. In many areas, every tree, stretching to the mountains in the distance, lies snapped on the ground.

Massive banana plantations have been flattened, leaving only traces of homes and other structures. Bananas sit rotting in the mud, and plantation labourers worry that with no bananas to harvest they’ve lost their incomes just as they’re grappling with so much other loss.

Fele Ondocan is thankful that her home in Andap barangay is only damaged, not totally destroyed.

“The roof and part of the frame blew away, but we found it nearby. We’re relieved, because we can’t afford to buy new materials,” she said. “We can fix the home. Our neighbours lost everything.” Continue reading →

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December 5, 2012 · 6:26 PM

Niger on high alert as floods threaten

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The Niger capital Niamey is on high alert as flood waters continue to rise.

Niger is on alert as flood water continue to rise.

The level of the Niger River has continued to rise from 506 cm on 22 November to 530 cm today and is expected to reach 580 cm within 10 days.

This will cause the flooding of 400 hectares, according to the government, including 40 hecatres in the capital Niamey. “We will be inundated” as of December 5, Niamey governor Aichatou Kane Boulama told a press briefing.

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Lowlying parts are already underwater.

Previous floods in August and September claimed almost 70 lives across the impoverished West African country and made tens of thousands homeless.

The third-longest river in Africa, the Niger has a basin of more than two million square kilometres (772,000 square miles), which is home to more than 100 million people, from Nigeria to Guinea.

Bientôt la côte d’alerte

Le Niveau du fleuve Niger est a 506 cm à la date du 22 novembre 2012, a dit la Gouverneure de la région de Niamey, Mme Kané Aïchatou Boulama, dans un point de presse tenu ce mercredi 28 novembre. Selon les prévisions, au 5 décembre le niveau sera à 530 cm. A ce stade, a-t-elle affirmé, on parle de la côte d’alerte. Dans dix jours, le niveau du fleuve atteindra 580 cm, a souligné la Gouverneure de Niamey cette situation entrainera l’inondation de plus de 400 hectares, dont 40 hectares en zones habitées, dans tous les 5 arrondissements que compte région de Niamey.

Les quartiers les plus exposés sont Karadjé avec notamment Karadjé-Zarmangandey et Karadjé-Baguisto, Nogaré, Lamordé et Kirkissoye, et sont situés dans l’arrondissement V. Le site de relogement identifié pour la circonstance et en train d’être aménagé avec le concours des partenaires techniques et financiers pour permettre aux populations déplacées d’y vivre décemment, a précisé madame Kané Aïchatou Boulama.

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September 14, 2012 · 2:55 PM

Floods in Chad

The floods in Chad have caused at least 13 deaths, affected 445,725 people and inundated about 255,720 hectares of cropland, according to a 3 September update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some 73,412 houses have been destroyed. The floods come as Chad still grapples with lack of food caused by drought conditions over the last 12 months. Bishop Miguel A. Sebastián of Laï(Chad) sent us this letter (in French) about the flooding in his country.

Flooding in Chad. Credit: Miguel A. Sebastián

Je m’occupe et me préoccupe dernièrement c’est la situation qui prévaut sur une grande partie de notre région, la Tandjilé. Si l’an dernier il n’y a pas eu assez de pluie, cette année en a eu de trop. La pluie tombe avec abondance, tellement que les fleuves et rivières de notre région ont débordé, chose inouïe ; beaucoup de personnes assez âgées nous disent qu’ils n’ont jamais vu cela ! Cela est catastrophique ! L’eau de la pluie et, surtout, l’eau des débordements a causé des dégâts terribles : des milliers des personnes sinistrées, des milliers des maisons d’habitation écroulées, des milliers d’hectares de culture englouties par l’eau. Terrible ! Continue reading →

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August 1, 2012 · 4:19 PM

Syrian child refugees face poverty in Lebanon

Available in French

By Laura Sheahen, Caritas Communications Officer

A black pupil within azure and indigo swirls, the ‘ayn’ is supposed to ward off envy and the evil eye. These round, blue glass objects are ubiquitous in the Middle East.

It’s hard to imagine who would envy the three bedraggled children I’m talking to in eastern Lebanon. Or how much worse their luck could get.

Every day, the kids—a boy aged 10, his seven-year-old sister, and a girl aged 9—take a paid car alone from the refugee area where they’re living to the city of Zahle. All afternoon, they roam the streets of Zahle, trying to sell as many ayn as they can.

The children are Syrian refugees, part of an exodus that has poured into Lebanon and other countries since spring 2011, but especially in July 2012. Here in Lebanon, some refugee families are living with host families or are crowding into apartments, with five or more people in each room. Other families are living in tent camps by the side of the road in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The valley is a farming area and many tents are just seed sacks that are sewn together. Continue reading →

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July 3, 2012 · 2:57 PM

Peacebuilding in Eastern Congo

En français:E x-combattants

A former militia member who is now working as a trader thanks to support from his community and Caritas Goma. Credit: Caritas Goma]

The situation in the eastern Congo province of North Kivu continues to deteriorate since conflict resumed in March after hundreds of former rebels defected from the army to join a renegade general.
Keeping ex-rebels from returning to the bush is difficult. Poverty, lack of opportunities and lack of acceptance within their communities for their past lives, can lead the former fighters to pick up the gun once more.

Caritas Goma is the diocesan Caritas operating in the area. Part of its peacebuilding programme aims to give the ex-combatants a future . Caritas works with the local villagers and the former fighters to create employment opportunities for the latter and improve relations between the two groups.

Caritas organises the former fighters into groups of three plus one member of the community. Together they build small community projects. They also receive specialist training. The jobs range from motorcycle taxis to farming, working in mills to hairdressing, plumbing to catering and so on. Some have a wider impact, such as reforestation work which improves the environment.

The work improves the living conditions of the former soldiers and their families as well as bringing them a greater stability. By involving locals, the programmes has helped create greater harmony. Jules was once a rebel fighter who is now a trader. “I no longer use a weapon to terrorise the people,” he said.

Some 260 ex-combatants and 110 members of their host communities were involved in the UNDP funded programme between September 2010 and march 2011 in Rutshuru and Masisi.

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June 4, 2012 · 4:17 PM

Tremors continue in Italy as national Caritas collection announced

Care of Caritas Italy

The Catholic Church in Italy will hold a national fundraising collection in parishes Sunday 10 June following the earthquake and aftershocks that have affected the Emilia Romagna region.

The Italian bishops have already allocated €3 million to help survivors of the quake that struck 20 May in the area of Modena and Ferrara and the large aftershocks which still continue.

The funds collected 10 June will be used by Caritas Italy (known locally as Caritas Italiana) to help in the aftermath of the disaster. Caritas Italy has already pledged €100,000. See the poster: poster_terremotonorditalia_A3

Up to now 150,000 people have been forced from their homes with 15,000 living in tents Caritas Italy says that with aftershocks continuing, fear is increasing among those evacuated from their homes. Its staff are working with local diocesan Caritas Emilia Romagna workers to coordinate the emergency response through a coordination centre has been set up in the small town Finale Emilia.

More details can be found on the Caritas Italy website

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