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UNHCR Urges Investigations After 10 Refugees Killed in Uganda Water Conflict

Halima Athumani

   KAMPALA, UGANDA - The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and Ugandan
   authorities are working to restore peace after clashes between locals
   and refugees in northern Uganda last week left about at least 10
   refugees dead. The violence followed an argument between South Sudanese
   refugees and the host community at a shared water point. Rights
   activists say the fighting underscores scarce resources in Uganda,
   which hosts Africa's largest population of refugees.

   The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Uganda is calling for calm
   and an investigation into the violence that left the refugees dead.

   The incident last Friday also left 19 refugees injured and 10 others
   missing.

   Officials say it happened when a dispute near a shared water tap at the
   Tika village in the Rhino refugee settlement turned violent.

   Joel Boutroue, the UNHCR representative in Uganda, says the violence
   was alarming.

   "The disproportionate violent reaction by the host community, to what
   was a communal dispute, signals a threat to the delicate balance of
   peaceful coexistence in the rural villages where refugees live
   alongside their Ugandan hosts," said Boutroue. "In an environment of
   scarcity of resources, tragic incidents such as that of last Friday are
   alarming."

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