57,000 flee DR Congo province to Uganda

Congolese refugees board trucks from Sebagoro landing site to Kyangwali refugee camp in Hoima District in December 2017. File photo 

More than 57,000 refugees have crossed into Uganda this year after fleeing ethnic strife in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern Ituri province, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

That rate of flight far surpasses the 44,000 refugees who made a similar journey through all of 2017, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.

Refugees are primarily entering Uganda via Lake Albert on makeshift boats, a dangerous crossing that has already proved fatal for "several" people, UNHCR said in a statement.

Fighting in Ituri has involved the Hema and Lendu communities, respectively cattle herders and farmers who have a long history of violence over access to land.