UNHCR staff inspect a chlorinated handwashing station at a site for internally displaced people near Bunia in DRC’s Ituri Province. © UNHCR
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR’s Head of Public Health, Dr. Allen Maina – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
GENEVA – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned by the accelerating spread of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the growing risks it poses to displaced communities across the region.
As of 17 June, 896 confirmed cases and 232 deaths had been reported across 31 health zones in the DRC. Uganda had confirmed 19 cases and two deaths. None were refugees, but the risks of the disease spreading among displaced people remain high.
More than 2 million forcibly displaced people, including over 320,000 refugees, live in areas at risk in the DRC, where fighting continues alongside the spread of Ebola disease. Fears are growing about population movements into and out of affected areas, and their potential impact on transmission, reinforcing the need to align public health with protection interventions.
For example, on 7 June, UNHCR monitored the arrival of some 2,250 people from Mbau, 20km from Beni, one of the outbreak’s epicentres, after movements of armed groups triggered panic and led them to flee to Oicha, North Kivu, an Ebola-affected zone already hosting more than 14,300 displaced people.
For refugees and internally displaced people already facing trauma and insecurity and a lack of adequate humanitarian assistance, the outbreak is fueling fear and misinformation, eroding trust in response teams and delaying access to life‑saving care. On 3 June, this distrust led some internally displaced people to temporarily block access to response teams following two Ebola‑related deaths at the Kpangba site in Ituri Province, only 25km from Bunia – illustrating how mistrust can directly hinder life‑saving interventions.
As the outbreak continues to expand in areas where conflict and disease intersect, working with community leaders is critical to building trust, countering misinformation and ensuring that public health measures are aligned with population movements.
In affected and high-risk areas, like Bunia, UNHCR is supporting government-led response plans. In the past week, we facilitated training for more than 100 community leaders by health experts on Ebola prevention and key practices, so they can relay messages in local languages and trusted formats. Further sessions are planned for more remote sites. In Ituri, along the South Sudan border, trained refugees have been helping install chlorinated handwashing stations in refugee‑hosting villages.
The risk is regional. Eastern DRC sits in an interconnected region where trade, family ties and refugee movements link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan. UNHCR is reinforcing preparedness in those countries, working with governments, the World Health Organization and partners to strengthen surveillance, screening, infection prevention, communication and water, sanitation and hygiene support in refugee-hosting areas and border corridors. We aim to prevent further cross-border transmission without impeding people seeking safety.
Governments must continue to lead the response and have a responsibility to protect public health. We are aware that some neighbouring countries have introduced temporary movement restrictions and other precautionary measures at border crossings in response to the outbreak. UNHCR believes that border closures are ineffective at preventing the spread of the epidemic, as they can drive people towards unofficial crossing points, where health screening and surveillance are more difficult. Public health measures should preserve access to asylum for people in need of international protection, with appropriate screening, triage, isolation and referral systems.
UNHCR and partners are working with local authorities to strengthen community-led preventive measures. We are working to ensure displaced communities are included in national health responses and protected from blame or discrimination, with particular attention to women and girls. Given the rapid increase in cases, the response must scale up accordingly and remain firmly anchored in national leadership. It must not come at the expense of other essential services like primary health care, gender-based violence services and education.
As part of an inter-agency response, UNHCR is seeking $14 million for its Ebola preparedness and response from July to November to help forcibly displaced people and their host communities in the DRC and Uganda, and to reinforce preparedness in Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
The funds would help strengthen health and sanitation systems, support front-line personnel, including community-based protection initiatives, expand isolation and referral capacity, and ensure that displaced people are not excluded from the wider public health response.
For more information, please contact:
- In Kinshasa, Rachel Criswell, criswell@unhcr.org +243 82 52 57 774
- In Nairobi (regional), Faith Kasina, kasina@unhcr.org, +254 113 427 094
- In Dakar (regional), Senan Rose Fidelia Bohissou, bohissou@unhcr.org, +221 77 569 91 60
- In Geneva, Eujin Byun, byun@unhcr.org, +41 79 747 87 19
