Nearly 100 Hema people have been deported to “labor camps” near Fataki, north of Bunia, in the war-torn Ituri region of the DRC. Lendu militias abducted the prisoners during the last month of fighting, and talks of slavery-like conditions and forced labor at gunpoint characterize the seizure. Though the Hema civilians are not yet being released, last week’s agreement by Ituri ethnic militias to work with a transitional government over the next two years towards restoring peace brings hope.
