Aid workers rethink relief efforts

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo -- The return to the volcano devastated city of Goma by thousands of Congolese will make it harder for aid agencies to help them, relief officials said.

"This will complicate things considerably. The aid agencies will have to reassess their operations," Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told Reuters.

"People are pouring back into Goma. From what I can see it is a massive level of returns," Alison Preston of the World Vision agency said by telephone from the eastern Congolese town.

"If people are in Goma it's more difficult for us."

VIDEO CNN's Elina Fuhrman reports on the destruction in Goma (January 18) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES • Voices from the devastation  • Congo crisis: How to help    EXTRA INFORMATION Interactive: Anatomy of a volcano  • Map: Goma lies in area prone to volcanic activity    RESOURCES On the Scene: Volcano displaces thousands    COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Congo (DRC) Provided by CountryWatch.com

Relief agencies have been handing out food and water in the nearby Rwandan town of Gisenyi, the original destination of most of those who fled Goma when Nyiragongo erupted on Thursday.

But relief workers in Gisenyi said the sudden move back to Goma that started on Saturday night and continued on Sunday risked making current food distribution plans irrelevant.

The lack of drinking water in Goma was also posing a threat, with people collecting water from Lake Kivu whose water has been contaminated with lava.

"The relief effort so far has been based in Gisenyi. Now it's being reassessed," Preston said. "There is going to have to be a cross-border effort, there's clearly no choice about that."

Allison Preston of World Vision told CNN from Gisenyi that aid workers were having a difficult time distributing water, food and other supplies to the refugees, who were scattered along roads and in nearby hills.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people along the roads, in the hills, anywhere where they can find space," she said.

"They are sleeping by the side of the road, and they have nothing to eat or drink," she said. "This is very mountainous country, with small, winding roads."

She estimated the number of refugees at 500,000, and said the Rwandan government had agreed to set up 20 camps and to distribute maize, beans and oil to the crowds.

Relief workers also were concerned about the possibility of a cholera outbreak. In 1964, 24,000 displaced refugees died from the disease, she said.

Stromberg said displaced people were extremely reluctant to move even further away from Goma by settling in two camps 25 km (16 miles) east of Gisenyi allocated to them by relief agencies.

Mudende camp was housing a mere 1,500 Congolese, while Nkamira camp had only 7,000, he said, adding his colleagues suspected those people were willing to stay there only because they knew for certain they had lost their homes in Goma.

Aid agencies were using helicopters to visit the west side of Goma, cut off by lava flow from relief efforts based in Gisenyi, and assessing the situation, Preston said.

Half of the $2.9 million in emergency aid that Britain has pledged to help those fleeing from a volcano eruption in Congo has already been allocated to aid groups and is on its way to the African nation, said UK International Development Secretary Clare Short.

Justin Forsyth, deputy director of Oxfam, told CNN that the organisation was flying aid workers and supplies from Britain to supplement their presence in the region.

Oxfam, which expects to get $720,000 of UK government funds to help those fleeing Mount Nyiragongo, said a flight carrying $216,000 worth of bedding and sanitation equipment had arrived in Kigali, in neighbouring Rwanda, on Sunday.

The equipment would be able to provide clean water for drinking and sanitation for 50,000 people, the group said.

Christian Aid, which promised $72,000 in assistance, flew a team of relief workers to Rwanda on Saturday.

The Catholic Aid Agency said it was sending $72,000 to help provide refugees with blankets, tents, food and cooking utensils.

CNN Correspondent Catherine Bond contributed to this report.