The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been displaced last week following clashes between the Congolese armed forces and the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group in North Kivu province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). Since early March, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group has reportedly killed at least 97 civilians in the Beni territory, also in North Kivu Province.
Citing humanitarian sources, UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Wednesday more than 50,000 people displaced from Rutshuru territory found safety in Kibirizi, while some 55,000 people from Masisi territory fled to nearby villages, as well as to the regional capital, Goma, and towards Minova in neighboring South Kivu province.
“Our peacekeeping colleagues in the country report that they sheltered 95 children at their base in Sake; that’s including 50 children from an orphanage. This happened following weekend clashes in this area between the Congolese defence forces and the M23 armed group”, Dujarric said.
According to the spokesman, four civilians died during the clashes and at least five others were injured. Peacekeepers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) provided medical assistance to the injured at their base and later evacuated them to Goma. The children were also transferred to a center for children in Goma.
Since early March, the ADF rebel group has reportedly killed at least 97 civilians in Beni territory, North Kivu province, according to MONUSCO.
“Due to ongoing joint operations between the Ugandan and Congolese defense forces, UN peacekeepers do not have access to the area south of Beni, where the suspected ADF members perpetrated these attacks,” Dujarric said.
“We along with our humanitarian partners are providing health support, education, food, water and sanitation among other much-needed services to thousands of people in Beni and surrounding areas. We are also working on scaling up our response.”
Over the past year, the resurgence of violence in the region has displaced over 800,000 people, including towards the provinces of South Kivu and Ituri. In February alone, nearly 300,000 people fled across Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu Province.
Eastern DRC is home to multiple armed groups, including the rebel M23 force and ADF rebels. A dramatic resurgence of clashes between the M23 and the Armed Forces of the DR Congo (FARDC) began in March 2022. The humanitarian situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has drastically deteriorated due to the escalation of the conflict in the North Kivu province.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, and the situation in the country is one of the most neglected displacement crises globally. For decades, the country has endured multiple, overlapping emergencies driven mainly by conflict and forced displacement. The UN estimates that 26.4 million require humanitarian assistance in the country this year.
With 7.1 million forcibly displaced people, the DR Congo has more displacement than any other country in Africa. Some 6.1 million people are internally displaced within the country, mainly in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, while 1 million refugees and asylum seekers from DRC are hosted in neighboring countries.
Further information
Full text: Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, transcript, March 15, 2023
https://press.un.org/en/2023/db230315.doc.htm