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Ituri Province
/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ituri_Province
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Ituri: 135 ex-combatants in difficulty at the Diango site
Published on Sun, 10/27/2024 - 10:17 | Modified on Sun, 10/27/2024 - 10:18
At least 135 ex-combatants from different armed groups who have joined the Disarmament and Demobilization program claim to have been "abandoned by the Government" at the Diango site, ten kilometers from Bunia. They are deprived of everything: no food, no water and no medicine.
They also claim to have never benefited from vocational training for their reintegration into the community for about two years.
These 135 ex-combatants, including three women, come from different armed groups: CODECO, FPIC, Zaire and are active in Ituri. There are also Mai-Mai from Opienge in the neighboring province of Tshopo.
According to their testimonies, they were well taken care of at the beginning of the process. But for about a year, living conditions have deteriorated significantly. They spend several months without food assistance, with the exception of a few one-off interventions for a ration that can last one to two weeks. This forces some to do daily work in villages near the site.
Others have taken up farming activities for survival.
"We are managing to survive. We spend two months without food, no soap, nothing at all. We have started some activities. There is land here at the site, we plant vegetables. That is what helps us," says a former combatant.
Medical care is also not well provided. At least twenty ex-combatants are suffering from diarrhoea similar to dysentery. They are isolated from other ex-combatants to prevent the spread of the disease.
"I have just registered 25 people who are seriously ill, especially with headaches and bloody diarrhoea. They go to the toilet four times a day. Here at the site, hygiene really leaves something to be desired ," complains a former combatant.
These former militiamen are asking the Government to speed up the DDRCS process which has been dragging on for two years, with a view to their reintegration into their respective communities.
https://www.radiookapi.net/2024/10/...x-combattants-en-difficulte-au-site-de-diango