UNHCR to build new camp for refugees

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Friday plans to set up a new camp for people fleeing the Central African Republic to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. "UNHCR will begin airlifting shelter supplies next week from Kinshasa for the construction of shelters for refugees from the Central African Republic at a new site that it has prepared at Mole, 45 km south of Zongo," Kris Janowski, the agency's spokesman, told reporters in Geneva. The camp will initially be able to house 10,000 people. UNHCR and non-governmental organisations at Mole have already built a water system and health and distribution centres, as well as classrooms for children, he said. "With the additional supplies, transfers of refugees to the site could begin before the end of the month," he added. The agency estimates that some 23,000 Central African people crossed to Zongo, northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, and other villages along the Ubangui river following a failed coup in the Central African Republic on 28 May. "Despite the visit at the beginning of December of a government delegation, and calls to return from President Ange-Félix Patassé, the refugees have so far not indicated a willingness to repatriate," Janowski said.