The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Refugee Policy Review Framework Country Summary as at 30 June 2023 (Update of the Summary as at 30 June 2023) – Democratic Republic of the Congo

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC)

As of 30 June 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hosts 523,528 refugees and asylum-seekers. This represents a slight decrease of around 2,500 refugees since 30 June 2020.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is among the five poorest nations in the world. In 2022, around 64 per cent of the population lived on less than USD 2.15 per day. Since 2020, the DRC has also experienced a significant escalation of internal conflict and instability in eastern provinces. It is the country with the largest internally displaced population on the African continent, with approximately 6 million internally displaced persons (hereinafter referred to as IDPs), as of 30 June 2023.

Despite this instability and poverty, the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to admit refugees and asylum-seekers onto its territory. The main countries of origin for the refugees are the Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi.

The largest populations of refugees in the DRC reside in North Kivu, North Ubangi and South Kivu Provinces. The majority (75 per cent) of these refugees reside in rural areas, with a further 23 per cent in ten planned settlements (camps) and only two per cent living in urban areas (mainly Kinshasa and Lubumbashi). The largest numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers in the country come from the Central African Republic (CAR) and Rwanda, with over 200,000 people from these countries respectively. Around 92,000 refugees arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo from the CAR because of the violence that erupted during the December 2020 election period in this country. Significant numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers also from South Sudan and Burundi, and smaller numbers from the Republic of Congo, Angola and Sudan. Most of the registered Rwandan refugees arrived in the DRC around 1995, the majority of whom live among local communities in North and South Kivu in the east of the country while a minority live in Kasai-Central, Haut Katanga and Equateur provinces. South Sudanese, Burundian and Congolese refugees arrived in successive waves from 2016 due to conflicts and targeted violence in their countries of origin.