UNHCR COUNTRY BRIEFING FOLDER ON THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO PROTECTION INFORMATION UNIT (PIU) Pillar I, Law and Policy DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION (DIP) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees CP 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.refworld.org December 2010 Table of Contents A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION..................................................................................3 A.1. General Information; Country Profile; Maps ........................................................................3 a. Country Profile.........................................................................................................3 b. Language................................................................................................................4 c. Maps.....................................................................................................................4 d. Education; Food; Health; Employment; Social Rights ...........................................................5 A.2. Political and Security Situation; .........................................................................................6 A.3. Human Rights (in General) ...............................................................................................8 B. DISPLACEMENT TRENDS ..........................................................................................9 B.1. Refugees and Asylum-Seekers...........................................................................................9 B.2. Internally Displaced Persons .............................................................................................9 B.3 Return; Repatriation; Integration; Resettlement...................................................................10 B.4 Freedom of Movement; Travel Documents; Entry and Exit ...................................................10 C. CONVENTION GROUNDS .........................................................................................11 C.1. Political Opinion; Political Activities; Freedom of Speech and Expression; Media Issues............11 C.2. Race; Ethnicity; Minority Rights, Indigenous People ...........................................................13 C.3. Freedom of Religion and Belief; Armed Forces; Military Service; Forced Conscription; Draft Evasion.......................................................................................................................14 C.4. Membership of a Particular Social Group; Women; Gender Issues; Domestic Violence; Children......................................................................................................................14 D. STATE PROTECTION ...............................................................................................16 D.1. Citizenship; Identification; Nationality; Statelessness...........................................................16 D.2. Judiciary; Legal and Penal Systems ..................................................................................16 D.3. Political Structure; Political Parties...................................................................................18 D.4. Internal Security; Police; Law Enforcement .......................................................................18 E. EXCLUSION..............................................................................................................19 F. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................20 F.1. Suggested Websites and Further Reading...........................................................................20 CORE UNHCR DOCUMENTS LATEST COUNTRY OPERATIONS PLAN (COP): - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2006 - Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1 September 2005 OPERATIONAL DOCUMENTS: - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Global Appeal 2010 - 2011 – Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1 December 2009 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Global Report 2009, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1 June 2010 ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS: - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Compilation Report (Excerpts of Treaty Body Concluding Observations and Special Procedure Reports) - Universal Periodic Review: Democratic Republic of the Congo, April 2009 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Repatriation of Congolese from Zambia reaches 40,000; camps to close, 24 September 2010 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, DRC - Treatment of rejected asylum seekers, 19 April 2006 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Real-time evaluation of UNHCR’s IDP operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 30 September 2007 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR CDR Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1 May 2000 A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A.1. General Information; Country Profile; Maps a. Country Profile A.1.1. United Nations Statistics Division, Country Profile: Democratic Republic of the Congo A.1.2. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ICRC Annual Report 2009: Democratic Republic of the Congo, 19 May 2010 A.1.3. US Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook – Congo, Democratic Republic of the, 27 October 2010 A.1.4. Immigration and Refugee Board Canada, National Documentation Package – Democratic Republic of the Congo, 30 April 2010 A.1.5. US Department of State, Background Note: Democratic Republic of the Congo, 8 October 2010 A.1.6. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Country Report Congo, (Democratic Republic), September 2010 A.1.7. BBC, Country Profile – Democratic Republic of Congo, last updated 20 October 2010 A.1.8. UK Border Agency, Country of Origin Information Report – Democratic Republic of the Congo, 30 June 2009 A.1.9. UK Border Agency, Operational Guidance Note: Democratic Republic of the Congo, 23 December 2008 A.1.10. Country of Return Information (CRI) Project, Fiche-pays – Republique Democratique du Congo (RDC), November 2008 A.1.11. UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Country Profile: Congo (Democratic Republic), last reviewed 17 March 2008 A.1.12. Immigration and Refugee Board Canada, Country Fact Sheet – Democratic Republic of the Congo, April 2007 A.1.13. Thompson Reuters Foundation AlertNet, Country Profile: Congo (Democratic Republic), 30 March 2010 b. Language A.1.14. Ethnologue, Languages of the World, Languages of Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2009 A.1.15. Jacques Leclerc, Amenagement linguistique dans le monde: Congo – Kinshasa (Republique Democratique du Congo), 24 June 2009 c. Maps A.1.16. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), République Démocratique du Congo : Province du Nord-Kivu - Mouvements de populations de janvier 2009 à septembre 2010, 13 October 2010 A.1.17. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Republique Democratique du Congo : Sithuation des Refugies congolais danas les pays voisins de l'est de la RDC - 18 Oct. 2010, 18 October 2010 A.1.18. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), DRC: Province Orientale - District du Bas-Uele, du Haut-Uele et d'Ituri - Mouvements de population suite aux attaques des groupes armés: situation en Septembre 2010, 18 October 2010 A.1.19. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), République Démocratique du Congo : Province du Sud-Kivu - Mouvements de populations de janvier 2009 à septembre 2010, 14 October 2010 A.1.20. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Refugees, Returnees and IDPs Democratic Republic of Congo (as of 31 Aug 2010), 31 August 2010 A.1.21. UN Cartographic Section, Map of MONUC Deployment, December 2009, December 2009, No. 4121 Rev. 44 A.1.22. ReliefWeb, DRC: Interactive Map of militarised mining areas in the Kivus, August 2009 A.1.23. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), République Démocratique du Congo : Réponse humanitaire suite aux mouvements de populations liés à l'Opération Ruwenzori - 18 Juillet 2010, 18 July 2010 A.1.24. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Congo: Refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Mar 2010), 19 March 2010 A.1.25. UN Cartographic Section, Map of Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 2004, No. 4007 Rev. 8 d. Education; Food; Health; Employment; Social Rights A.1.26. WFP, World Food Programme 2010 Annual Report Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2010 A.1.27. IRIN, DRC: Toxic toad scam killing patients, 13 May 2009 A.1.28. ECOSOC, Implementation of the International Covenational Archives of the Congo Cultural Rights: Combined second, third, fourth and fifth periodic reports, 21 January 2009 A.1.29. RAID, Chinese Mining Operations in Katanga Democratic Republic of Congo, September 2009 A.1.30. Global Witness, Faced with a gun, what can you do? War and the militarisation of mining in Eastern Congo, July 2009 A.1.31. Medicins sans Frontiers, MSF in Democratic Republic of Congo, MSF activities in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, April 2009 A.1.32. Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland, Democratic Republic of Congo: Information on treatment of mental health and healthcare, 19 January 2009 A.1.33. UNICEF, Thousands of schools closed in Eastern DR Congo, 21 November 2008 A.1.34. UN News Service, Albino people in DR Congo suffer discrimination and exclusion – UN agency, 8 August 2008 A.2. Political and Security Situation A.2.1. BBC News, French court orders Rwandan rebel leader