UNHCR urges action amid risks for displaced in eastern DR Congo

A total of 5.7 million people have over the past two years become internally displaced across the North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces.

On March 26, UNHCR noted that ongoing violence in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had reached « a devastating level ».

« Two years of cyclical conflict in the North Kivu territories of Rutshuru and Masisi have forced over 1.3 million people to flee their homes within the DRC, leading to a total of 5.7 million people becoming internally displaced across North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, » the statement said.

Since « violent clashes enveloped the town of Sake, in Masisi territory, on February 7, almost 300,000 people have arrived in the city of Goma and its surroundings, swelling spontaneous and official displacement sites as they desperately seek shelter from indiscriminate bombing and other human rights abuses, » it added.

Schools destroyed and children suffering abuse

« Families continue arriving at sites traumatized and exhausted by the attacks, scarred physically and psychologically. Many report being abused — some sexually — during their flight. New arrivals find refuge in makeshift shelters in overcrowded sites, in schools and churches, or with host families, stretching their meagre resources, » the statement said.

« In 2024, seven schools were destroyed by bombings. Looting of medicines and essential materials from health centres in recent weeks further hampered humanitarians’ ability to support displaced people. Hundreds of thousands have been identified as displaced behind frontlines in Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories, cut off from aid, » it added.

« The renewed violence means many children have been displaced, and a large number are now unaccompanied and exposed to grave risks and violations, including kidnapping, forced recruitment, mutilation and rape. In 2023, in North Kivu alone, there were 50,159 reported cases of gender-based violence, more than half of which were rape; 90% of these victims were women and girls, while 37% were children, » it stressed.