Goma: more than 17,000 new people displaced following war between the regular army and M23 rebels

More than 17,000 displaced people have been registered in a newly created camp in the city of Goma in the province of North Kivu (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). According to humanitarian sources, those concerned fled the fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels near the strategic city of Sake located around twenty kilometers from Goma, capital of North Kivu.
The displaced people live in deplorable conditions. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Non-governmental organizations are warning about the humanitarian situation.

Apart from the Bulengo and Lushagala camps in the city of Goma, another site for displaced people has been set up in the Mugunga district to the west of the city.
It has more than 17,000 displaced people who live without any humanitarian assistance, according to Médecins Sans Frontières which also deplores the resurgence of armed groups in the eastern part of the DRC.

Local authorities confirm this information.

“Most of the displaced are women and children under 20 years old from Sake, Kirotshe, Karuba, Mushaki, Kingi in the Bahunde chiefdom, others are from Kausa and Nyamitaba in the Bashali chiefdom of Masisi territory. This is the second wave of displaced people who arrived in Goma during the attacks on the city of Sake. We are now more than 17,000 people confined in this camp for a week now because the Bulengo camp was already overwhelmed with displaced people and the authorities directed us here,” testifies Bahati Lumoo, head of this site known as Shabindu, who specifies that the humanitarian situation is increasingly deteriorating.

According to another source in the IDP camp, it is difficult for the displaced to survive.

“We lack everything in this camp. No tarpaulins, water or food. The children and women spend the night in huts built using plastic bags, men sleep under the stars. We need emergency aid,” cries Likando Kishano, one of the displaced people.

As for Goma: it has recorded more than 17,000 new people displaced by war between the regular army and the M23 rebels

At least 17,000 displaced people have been registered in a new camp created in the city of Goma in the province of North Kivu (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo).

According to humanitarian sources, those concerned are fleeing the fighting around the town of Sake located at roughly twenty kilometers from Goma.
The displaced people live in deplorable conditions.

Victims

Alice Bushu, in her thirties, lost her 14-year-old daughter earlier this week. She was a victim of excessive cold. She laments that “we were forced to leave our household following the war which ravaged us even though we had everything we needed at home.”

Most of the displaced aspire to the return of peace so that they can return to their villages of origin.

During a press conference held in Goma this Wednesday, February 28, 2024, MSF-provincial coordination of North Kivu castigated “the resurgence of armed groups in the nooks and crannies of the eastern part of the country, endangering several thousand of Congolese”.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of internally displaced people in Congo reached 6.9 million people in October 2023. Most of the internally displaced people, approximately 5.6 million ( 81 % of total) live in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika. They are located in the east of the vast central African country. Conflict is cited as the main reason for displacement.