More than 230,000 displaced in DRC since the start of the year, says UN | Conflict news
The UN says forced displacement is one of the world’s ‘most alarming’ humanitarian crises.
More than 230,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the year due to escalating violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the United Nations.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday described the displacement as the “most alarming” humanitarian crisis in the world.
The resource-rich eastern provinces of North and South Kivu – home to more than 4.6 million displaced people, according to the agency – have been mired in conflict for three decades, and the M23 rebel group has become one of the most powerful armed groups in recent years.
Declared a “terrorist movement” by the DRC government, M23 has captured large areas of eastern DRC from 2021, and earlier this month, took control of the town of Masisi in North Kivu.
Earlier this month, Bertrand Bisimwa, head of M23’s political wing, told Al Jazeera that the group was fighting “defensive” war.
“Escalating clashes between non-state armed groups and the Congolese army in North and South Kivu provinces are intensifying one of the world’s most alarming and still under-reported humanitarian crises,” UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun told reporters in Geneva.
The conflict, Byun warned, “is marked by widespread human rights violations and massive forced displacement.”
Byun noted that intense fighting in Masisi and Lubero territories forced approximately 150,000 people to flee their homes between January 1 and 6 alone. Many returned briefly during a lull in the fighting on January 4, but were forced to flee once more as more fighting broke out, according to the UN.
In the territory of Fizi in South Kivu, the local government requested international assistance, noting that 84,000 people had sought refuge there.
Byun warned that civilians were suffering “indiscriminate bombing and sexual violence”, with children also being targeted.
“Already dire humanitarian conditions are rapidly deteriorating, and access to these vulnerable populations is severely limited by insecurity, roadblocks and the presence of violent armed actors,” Byun added.
UNHCR said it was ready to provide assistance as soon as access was restored, but stressed that more resources were urgently needed.
