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--- Begin Message ---Surge in Ugandan suicide rates
25/08/2005 10:45 - (SA)
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Gulu - The number of suicides in refugee camps in Uganda's north has risen alarmingly, with almost daily deaths in a number of camps, the Catholic Church in the country said on Thursday in Gulu.
"Fifteen people took their own lives in just one camp during the last month, and in some camps there are almost daily suicides," said Archbishop John Baptist Odama. "This is a sign of the growing desperation," he added.
About 90% of the population in the north of the country live in refugee camps as a result of the civil war that has torn the area for almost two decades.
Unable to tend to their fields out of fear of attacks by the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA), they are largely dependant on food aid provided by the United Nations.
"The notion of suicide is completely at odds with the culture of the Acholi people (in northern Uganda)," the bishop explained, adding that an Acholi had to be in a very bad situation in order to decide to kill himself.
Most victims had taken their lives by ingesting toxic substances, he said.
The Catholic aid organisation Caritas has commissioned an investigation to find out the reason for, and fight against the increase of, suicides. - Sapa-dpa
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