VZCZCXRO1674
PP RUEHBZ RUEHGI
DE RUEHBZ #0337 3311510
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271510Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1627
INFO RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI PRIORITY 0045
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0550
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE PRIORITY 0068
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PRIORITY 0075
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0059
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0062
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0050
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0084
RHMFISS/AFRICOM
RUEHBZ/AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE 2039

UNCLAS BRAZZAVILLE 000337 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PREL PREF CF CG
SUBJECT: (SBU) CONGO(B) GOVERNMENT UNEASY OVER EVENTS IN NORTHERN 
DRC 
 
1.(SBU)  SUMMARY:  Congo(B) MFA called in the Ambassador 
November 27 to express government uneasiness over the situation 
in northern DRC which has led to a significant refugee influx to 
Congo(B).  The government is having difficulty determining what 
is actually happening in the affected region and believes the 
DRC government is not devoting adequate concern.  Congo(B) hopes 
the international community will "take steps."   END SUMMARY. 
 
2.(SBU)  At the direction of the Foreign Minister, MFA Secretary 
General Daniel Owassa convoked the Ambassador on short notice 
November 27.  His subject was events in Equateur province in the 
DRC, which has led to a large influx of displaced/refugees 
across the Oubangi River into the Likouala region of the 
Republic of Congo. 
 
3.(SBU) Owassa noted the refugee influx ("almost 50,000"), 
saying that the Congo(B) government viewed the situation as very 
serious.  He said it was necessary for the international 
community to "take steps," because in his government's view, the 
situation had gone beyond the competence of the DRC government. 
In Congo(B)'s discussions with the DRC, it has become clear that 
Kinshasa does not know what is happening in the affected region. 
 There is no government structure there to receive and transmit 
information to the central government. 
 
4.(SBU) Meanwhile the influx to Congo(B) has virtually doubled 
the population in the region along the river.  In the context of 
planning the Congo(B) response, the government needs to know 
what is causing this problem.  Initially, he said, it had been 
reported that it was a matter of conflict over fish and fish 
ponds.  But now a MONUC helicopter has been fired on, and it 
landed in Congo(B) territory.  What should the government be 
telling its representatives in the region?  Should they expect 
an influx of armed men, if the conflict intensifies, or will the 
population arriving continue to be made up largely of women and 
children?  Is a milita involved, and if so, whose?  What were 
the implications of the incident involving the helicopter? 
Would it affect the potential ability to use MONUC logistics to 
support supplies for the DRC residents who have fled across the 
river?  Without a clear appreciation of the direction events 
have and might take in the DRC, it is hard to plan a response. 
 
5.(SBU) Owassa said that he had spoken with the French, the 
Belgians, the EU Presidency (Italy), and the Central African 
Republic about this situation. 
 
6.(SBU) COMMENT:  Though it was not put in so many words, the 
clear implication was that we were being called on to help 
inject some urgency into the DRC government, to call on Kinshasa 
to sharpen its appreciation of the situation and to signal what 
its response is going to be.  This demarche was also intended to 
heighten potential donor sensitivities to the gravity of the 
humanitarian situation in this distant and difficult region of 
the Republic of Congo. 
 
EASTHAM