Internally Displaced Persons in Congo face humanitarian crisis: UN

A UN report says the substantial increase in violence among ethnic groups in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to a serious humanitarian crisis, displacing thousands of people who live in deplorable conditions.

The report by the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC, known by its French initials MONUSCO, said that there has been a significant increase in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Kilimani, Kalinga, Lushebere and Bihito camps in Masisi territory in North Kivu Province, located in Congo’s east.

“Currently, 20,700 IDPs are living in the four camps, and 8,000 others have settled in an additional camp in central Masisi,” MONUSCO said in its report, noting that “In addition, a large number of other IDPs are living with host families and in other public sites.”

“All have to deal with the hostility of the local communities who suspect them of having links with the armed groups,” the mission said.

MONUSCO, which has 6,700 peacekeeping troops in North Kivu, also said that, “Violence and harsh living conditions are the daily lot of those IDPs.”

The peacekeeping mission pointed out that central Masisi has specially witnessed a surge in the number of ethnic-related incidents since September, 2012.

The problem of armed groups in the eastern DRC has been a long-running one for many years, most recently throughout 2012, when fighters from the March 23 movement (M23) seized the eastern city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, on November 20 after UN peacekeepers gave up the battle for the frontier city. The rebels withdrew from the city on December 1 under a ceasefire accord.

The Congolese government and the M23 have been holding peace talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala since early December. However, the talks were suspended on December 21, after the parties failed to agree on an agenda. The two sides agreed to resume negotiations in January after the New Year holidays.

Since early May, over 900,000 people have fled their homes in eastern Congo. Most of them have resettled in Congo, but tens of thousands have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.