GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said Tuesday an estimated 50,000 Congolese had fled fighting in the eastern part of Congo, and it hoped to begin distributing food to the displaced this week.
People fleeing Bunia in Ituri region have trekked south for up to 10 days through forests to avoid militia attacks and reach Beni in North Kivu province, according to the U.N.'s World Food Program, whose team arrived over the weekend.
"The people are exhausted, hungry and in urgent need of basic medical assistance, clean water and shelter," said Robert Dekker, WFP head of operations for Goma.
"The trek involves crossing two rivers and some internally displaced people described watching babies being swept away by the river currents," he said.
The United Nations wants an international force sent to the Ituri region. Drugged up militia fighters, some suspected of cannibalism, have killed hundreds of people with machetes, guns and bows and arrows, but the small U.N. force in Bunia has neither the mandate nor the firepower to intervene.
Under large-scale food distribution due to start Friday, the displaced will receive one month's supply of pulses, maize, beans and oil, according to spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume.
She said at a news briefing in Geneva that the agency would need $16 million to feed the displaced through the end of the year. An appeal to donors for funds was being prepared.
The Rome-based WFP recently sent 200 tons of food from Goma to Beni, enough to feed some 25,000 people for a month, but the number of displaced has exceeded expectations, she added. 05/27/03 11:24 ET
