MSF-USA: Growing Violence in Uganda

January 19, 2004
Growing Violence in Uganda

The decade-long conflict between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is far from over. In the past several months, the fighting has been much more violent and has spread to new areas of the country, particularly the northern towns of Soroti, Gulu, and Lira. The LRA has repeatedly attacked civilians, often assaulting villages at night and by surprise. Throughout last summer and fall, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) mounted an emergency response in Soroti. With arrivals flooding in, no preparations had been made to properly receive the displaced, and people were stricken with measles and malnutrition. Today, many people are now leaving Soroti for neighboring camps that offer more security, but these sites are not prepared to receive them and lack shelters, latrines, food distribution and access to health care. So the crisis may simply move from Soroti to its outskirts.

People have given MSF harrowing accounts of extremely violent attacks, savage abuses committed by the LRA, as well as kidnappings and torture. People leave everything behind when their village is attacked, and families have been torn apart. The emotional and physical distress is overwhelming, with a she sense of insecurity, abandonment and pessimism running throughout the population.

The conflict in Uganda has already claimed many victims â€“ both people directly affected by the violence and those who suffer from a lack of assistance. As the war persists, intensifies and extends its reach, there remains an urgent need to act.