In the last four days, not less than 72,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to escape being caught in the middle as fighting between the army and M23 rebels rages on, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday.
The UNHCR said in a statement that resumed clashes in the Rutshuru territory, an enclave which has been the usual scene of fighting with the M23 militia, have spread week to the neighbouring territory of Nyiragongo, and Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, forcing the residents to flee for safety.
“Thousands of families have been forced to flee this new wave of violence. Some had to walk more than 20 km to reach the outskirts of Goma,” said Caitlin Brady, UNHCR’s director in the DRC.
“UNHCR is deeply concerned about the urgent and significant needs of more than 72,000 people displaced” by the fighting since May 19,” the UN agency said in a statement.
The UNHCR statement noted that since last November, at least 170,000 civilians have been driven from their homes by fighting in eastern DRC, adding that “at least 1.9 million people are displaced in North Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda and Uganda. In total, the DRC has 5.6 million displaced people, a record in Africa.”
“In the past week, some 7,000 Congolese have taken refuge in Uganda, where some 25,000 others had already arrived during earlier fighting in late March,” UNHCR said.
“The thousands of recently displaced people have been huddled in churches, schools and other sites that are not suitable for such an influx, leaving them vulnerable to cholera, malaria and other diseases.
“They lack food, clean water and basic equipment; $5 million is currently needed for operations in North Kivu,” the Refugee agency said.