Shelter of Camps in Zambia Not Enough for Refugee Congolese Child-Brides?

Two young girls who were raped in the DRC. It is not permitted to show the faces of these young girls.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most comprehensive international instrument that exists today for the definition and enforcement of human rights of children in refugee camps. It is the only international human rights instrument that consistently uses both masculine and feminine pronouns throughout and makes it explicit that the rights contained therein apply equally to all female and male children.

In great contrast to life in the camp, many current conditions today in the DRC are extremely dangerous for women and children. “Nothing (in North Kivu) has improved for people, who continue to flee the violence. The displaced persons often stay close to the area where they live because they continue to hope to return home. They might be two hours walk from home, but are attacked on the roads and in the fields. Rape victims are often attacked while working in or returning from the fields,” recently said Romain Gitenet, Head of Doctors Without Borders, as he worked from an area inside the DRC.

“Nime furahi sana, kurudi kwa shule (Am very happy to come back to school),” said Mitwelle Mwelu, a 12th grade pupil from Mwange Refugee Camp who is married with three children and who also decided to go back to school. Mwelu says she is very happy now writing for her final exams. When she finishes high school she will also be able to work. She says that her husband encourages her to work hard on her studies as he is a teacher at her school.

According to the UNHCR, many girls today are caught in the stigmatization of their society’s inferior views. They rarely have the opportunity to express their own concerns, let alone have their own views taken into account. Many girls are also deprived of their inheritance rights, dragged into early or forced marriages or forced to suffer under many family obligations.

In certain cases, Congolese refugee girls may become targets of sexual predators. Or they become victims of trafficking as they are exploited in the sex-trade and labor markets. The dangers of staying in the camp, though, are small in comparison to the current critical danger of violence for girls on returning to areas like the Kivu Province.

Zambia is currently hosting approx 113,000 refugees. The UNHCR states that, “In any refugee population, approximately 50% of the uprooted people are women and girls. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and often their family structure, females are often particularly vulnerable. They face the rigors of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent sexual abuse even after reaching an apparent place of safety. Women must cope with these threats while being nurse, teacher, breadwinner and physical protector of their families.”

Over the past seven years, refugee women worldwide have escaped from areas of war in Angola, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, close to 18,000 Congolese refugees are living in the Mwange refugee camp situated 35 kilometers Southwest of Mporokoso District.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ClS-gJqUU?rel=0]

 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is entering a moment of hope after suffering from one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last half century. Four million people have died since 1998 and 1.5 million people remain displaced from their homes today. As refugees return to the DRC from camps in surrounding areas, they face many difficult situations. 

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Additional sources for this article include IRIN Africa, Doctors Without Borders, The Post – Zambia, UN Press News, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ReliefWeb, UN Radio, Reuters Alertnet, PRB- Population Reference Bureau Report 2007, UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund, Center for HIV Information – University of California, UNHCR – the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and The 2007 DRC Country Report of Special Rapporteur — Dr. Yakin Erturk.
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©2008 WNN – Women News Network

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