Republic of the Congo: Peace and oil dividends fail to benefit remaining IDPs and other vulnerable populations
25 Sep 2009 12:15:00 GMT Source: IDMC
Up to 800,000 people in the Republic of the Congo â€" a
quarter of the population â€" were internally displaced during the 1990s by armed conflict in the Pool region between government forces and rebels originating from among the Lari ethnic
group. The conflict ended in 2003, and by 2006, according to a government estimate, only 7,800 people remained displaced in Pool.
Since then no new assessment of the number of IDPs has been
conducted, and the UN reported no change to the government estimate in its Displaced Populations Report of January â€" March 2009. More significantly, no study of whether former IDPs have
achieved durable solutions has been carried out, leaving unanswered the question of whether internal displacement has really ended in the Republic.
Despite apparent stability and some
progress made towards development in the fifth largest oil-producing country in sub-Saharan Africa, half of the population still lives under the poverty line. Held back by weak governance and
corruption, the government has been unable to achieve measurable improvements in the living conditions of the majority of the population.
An Afghan migrant leaves his shelter in the woods near the harbour of Calais, northern France, September 21, 2009. Following French Immigration Minister Eric Besson's announcement on September 16, 2009 declaring ...
