The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed grave concern for the safety of civilians and internally displaced people (IDPs) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) as fighting between the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group and the Congolese army further intensifies in South and North Kivu provinces, with the armed group advancing on the North Kivu capital of Goma.
Meanwhile, large numbers of troops are reportedly crossing from Rwanda to support the M23 offensive, raising fears of a full-scale war between the two East African neighbors. Rwanda stepped up its support for the M23 in 2024, and Rwandan troops are already fighting alongside the M23 in eastern DRC, according to a group of UN experts.
UNHCR said on Friday that the number of displaced people has now soared to more than 400,000 this year alone, almost double the figure reported just last week. Clashes between the Congolese army and the M23 armed group have led to significant new displacement of civilians in and around Goma.
“Violence has also escalated in South Kivu’s Minova and Kalehe territories, displacing an additional 178,000 people as intense clashes led to non-state armed groups taking control of the town of Minova and the locality of Kalungu,” Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.
“At least 80 percent of the population fled towards the city of Goma. UNHCR colleagues are monitoring cross-border movements and stand ready to respond to any potential outflow of asylum-seekers.”
Fighting has also intensified in the North Kivu town of Sake, about 25 kilometers from Goma, with the M23 taking control after battling the DRC armed forces. The latest escalation follows intense clashes in the South Kivu town of Minova earlier this week, which displaced thousands of people and cut off supply routes to Goma.
“Heavy bombardments caused families from at least nine displacement sites on the periphery of Goma to flee into the city to seek safety and shelter. Many spent last night sleeping on the streets and in green spaces across the city,” Saltmarsh said.
UNHCR urged all warring parties to prioritize the protection of civilians, to respect the civilian nature of IDP sites, and to refrain from using explosives and heavy weapons in overcrowded civilian environments.
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, also in Geneva.
She warned that any such attack on Goma risks having a catastrophic impact on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at heightened risk of human rights violations and abuses.
The situation in Goma is dire, with more than 700,000 displaced people already living in the territory of Goma and the neighbouring territory of Nyiragongo.
“The High Commissioner is calling on all parties to the conflict to de-escalate tensions and, consistent with their obligations and responsibilities under international human rights and humanitarian law, to ensure that civilians are unharmed,” Shamdasani said.
Volker Türk also “appeals to all States with influence on the parties to impress on them the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” she said, adding that any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end.
“The people in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. And this must not be allowed to worsen further.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Friday that the security situation remains highly volatile.
OCHA warned that the recent upsurge in armed violence will only exacerbate an already critical humanitarian situation, adding to the suffering of thousands of men, women and children who are displaced and forced to live in inhumane conditions.
Humanitarian agencies on the ground are also concerned about the increasing number of wounded arriving in already overwhelmed health facilities.
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres expressed alarm at the resumption of hostilities in the eastern part of the country.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, he strongly condemned the renewed offensive launched by the M23 since the beginning of the year and its expansion into North and South Kivu, including the recent seizure of Sake, which puts Goma under increased threat.
This offensive, he said, is taking a devastating toll on civilians and increasing the risk of a broader regional war. Guterres called on the M23 to immediately cease its offensive, withdraw from all occupied territory and abide by the July 31, 2024 ceasefire agreement.
“The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the most recent report of the Group of Experts established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1533, concerning the presence of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil and continued support to the M23,” the statement said.
Guterres also called on all actors to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC and to cease all forms of support to armed groups, whether Congolese or foreign.
Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC has stepped up its support for the Congolese army to counter the advances of the M23 in the province of North Kivu, and particularly in Goma. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reports that heavy clashes are continuing for control of Sake.
“MONUSCO is conducting day and night joint patrols with the Congolese Armed Forces and they also supported the deployment of Congolese forces to reduce the threat to civilian populations,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Guterres, on Friday.
On Saturday, the international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also warned that the ongoing fighting was having a catastrophic impact on the humanitarian situation around Goma. HRW said the combat had caused people in at least nine displacement sites around Goma to flee into the city.
According to the humanitarian organization Oxfam International, families have sought shelter in schools and churches in and around Goma city, where they face inadequate shelter and a lack of basic social services, including humanitarian aid.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave behind whatever little they had managed to salvage on displacement sites,” said Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam Country Director in DRC, in a statement on Friday.
“Many are seeking shelter in churches, schools, and other makeshift shelters in Goma which are far from safe or adequate. The most basic needs for survival — food, clean water, medical care, blankets and protection — are in short supply, and humanitarian aid is yet to reach them.”
Oxfam reports that artillery shelling in areas already hosting displaced families has caused panic among them and nearly emptied one of the displacement sites around Goma. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have fled to the city center, where the local infrastructure is unable to meet their needs.
"Every day, the situation is getting worse. We are seeing firsthand the devastating impact that this conflict is having on vulnerable communities. Some of these families have been displaced for the seventh time, with no immediate means of support. This situation is unsustainable," Manenji said.
Clashes between non-state armed groups and the Congolese army in North and South Kivu provinces are exacerbating one of the world's most under-reported humanitarian crises, characterized by widespread human rights violations and massive forced displacement.
On January 4, the M23 captured the town of Masisi in North Kivu, already sheltering more than 600,000 displaced people, following an offensive launched by the M23 on January 2 in violation of the ceasefire agreement signed between DRC and neighboring Rwanda in July last year. On January 21, the armed group took control of the town of Minova.
The ongoing clashes are the latest in a three-year violent crisis pitting the M23 against the Congolese army and allied groups in eastern DRC. The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and seriously affected the already critical humanitarian and health situation in the east of the country.
In both provinces, civilians have been subjected to indiscriminate bombings and sexual violence, while the use of heavy weapons in populated areas has resulted in numerous civilian casualties, including children. The M23 is the most prominent of more than 130 armed groups reportedly active in the strategic and resource-rich eastern DRC.
North and South Kivu are already home to 4.6 million IDPs, making the DRC one of the countries with the highest number of people uprooted within its own borders. In total, some 7.3 million people are internally displaced throughout the country, most of them as a result of armed violence.
For decades, the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri have been plagued by violence as non-state armed groups fight for control of the region's rich natural resources. Many of those forced to flee have been displaced several times. Humanitarian needs are urgent, with protection, food, shelter and sanitation among the top priorities.