Highlights
On 28 October, the DRC recorded 15,735 Burundian refugees, 9,944 of which are living in UNHCR’s Lusenda camp, 5,741 in host families on the Ruzizi / Uvira plains and Fizi Territory, and 50 in the Kamvivira transit site.
Children's education remains a major concern; the vast majority of parents are reluctant to enroll their children under the Congolese education system.
There are rumours of attempted recruitment by the National Liberation Front (FNL from Burundi) amongst Lusenda refugees.
2,000 school kits were provided to refugees and vulnerable children.
486 cases of cholera were recorded in four Health zones harboring refugees in the past month, of a total of 3,054 cases reported in 2015.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
There was an increase of 456 refugees in the past month.
As of 30 October, UNHCR reports that 1,700 out of 2,700 school-aged refugee children have registered for school. Advocacy work is continuing in order to improve enrollment and ensure continued attendance. Education cluster partners and UNHCR are working on a transition strategy for the possible enrollment of refugees in Congolese schools.
Confusion persists on the management and payment of Congolese teachers who are not enrolled in the Civil Servant Education System (and, consequently, do not receive a salary), and Burundian teachers in five schools in Lusenda.
Seven people holding grenades were arrested by Congolese police around the Lusenda site. The UNHCR, in agreement with the Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés (CNR), agreed to strengthen security at the site by increasing the number of policemen.
The Uvira, Fizi and Nundu Health zones hosting refugees continue to report cholera cases:
Fizi Health Zone: 60 cases in week 43 compared to 56 cases in week 42
Uvira Health Zone: 58 cases in week 43 compared to 53 cases in week 42
Nundu Health Zone: (Which includes Lusenda) also faced an outbreak in week 43, with 11 reported cases. The health areas concerned are Mboko (9 cases), Nundu centre (1 case) and Kenya (1 case). The Lusenda health area sheltering Burundian refugees has not yet reported any cases. Response actions (Health & WASH) continue in these areas.
In Health Zones hosting refugees (Ruzizi, Uvira, Nundu and Lemera), 1,672 severely acute malnourished (SAM) children were assisted, out of which 252 are refugees (15% of SAM cases).
Recorded refugee cases increased from 165 in September to 252 in October due to the arrival of new refugees with weak nutritional status and thanks to intensive screening conducted in the communities by Health zone community workers and UNICEF’s partner People In Aid (PIN) INGO.The post-2015 response remains unclear as most funding ends in late December; UNHCR is working on the 2016 budget while taking into account a likely increase of Burundian refugees. The provisional planning figure for 2016 is 30,000 refugees, twice the current number