By Frank Nyakairu ISHASHA, Uganda, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has warned that disease could break out among thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in their east Congo villages and pouring across the border into Uganda. Many refugees crossed a game park full of wild animals to reach the relative safety of the border town of Ishasha, and have had to put up makeshift shelters of sticks and polythene bags to keep off the sun and rain. A ceasefire declared by Tutsi rebel General Laurent Nkunda has halted fighting with government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, but his fighters have attacked militia allies of the government, sending refugees fleeing east into Uganda. "In the last three days, we have seen over 15,000 refugees coming in and we fear that any disease could break out due to poor sanitary conditions and congestion," UNHCR field officer Yumiko Takashima told Reuters in the border district of Kanungu. Chaotic scenes are common among the refugees as aid workers distribute food relief at Ishasha Primary School. "I came two days ago and have eaten only one meal. I cannot even find my daughter and wife. Why doesn't the international community solve Congo's problems once and for all?" said a worried and angry Foustine Lumbala. Takashima said U.N. agencies were distributing what food and water they had but the number of people in need was overwhelming. A lack of clean drinking water and adequate toilets, common when large numbers of refugees are on the move, can lead rapidly to outbreaks of diseases like cholera, which has been reported around Goma, the provincial capital in recent months. On Friday, Ugandan authorities started moving the refugees from Ishasha to other camps away from the border. "We have eight buses ferrying refugees to get them out of danger in case of attacks spilling over and animals in the game park," said Musa Ecweru, Ugandan minister for disaster preparedness. A Ugandan army spokesman said the army was holding Congolese policemen who fled with their families into Uganda. "We have disarmed the 71 policemen who came in with 45 submachine guns. We are in the process of transferring them back to DRC," said Captain Tabaro Kiconco. The Congolese government calls Nkunda's revolt an unlawful challenge to a democratically elected administration and insists he return to a peace pact he signed in January along with other rebel and militia groups. Nkunda rejected the pact as one-sided and wants direct talks on security and ethnic issues in the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony, devastated by a 1998-2003 war involving many of its neighbours. (Editing by Tim Pearce)
University students carry large red ribbons on a street during an HIV/AIDS awareness rally ahead of World AIDS day in Shenyang, Liaoning province November 29, 2008. China has become more open ...
