Ituri (DRC) : the mortality rate skyrockets among displaced people

At least sixteen displaced people have died in two months in the Nyamusasi site for displaced people. It is in Ituri province in eastern DRC. Sources in the camp speak of poor living conditions to the point of almost running out of everything. They are asking authorities for assistance.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The Nyamusasi site that recorded these deaths is in the Djugu territory. The majority of the dead are children, according to our sources.

“These are children suffering from severe malnutrition. Famine is raging here. We lack everything, even food. The children cannot resist for long. And when they are sick, they do not receive medical care. It is a calamity,” Germain Mbuna, president of the site for displaced persons, told SOS Médias Burundi.

He indicates that the last food aid was received more than a year ago.

Raped women

While the situation is untenable, household leaders are trying to find work outside the camp. Unfortunately, women are raped or are forced to sleep with potential employers. The women concerned, desolate, speak of “great suffering”.

The site is home to more than eight thousand displaced people who have fled insecurity in the villages of Torgese, Nyamamba, Blukwa and Bule.

They are asking the Congolese government and charitable organizations to come to their aid. Following armed conflicts that are mainly shaking the east of the vast central African country, residents continue to flee their homes.

Since the beginning of 2024, more than 940,000 people have been newly displaced in the DRC, bringing the total to approximately 7.3 million displaced people, according to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA). Women represent 51% of the displaced population. More than 80% of displacements are due to attacks and armed clashes.

The provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu concentrate the majority of displaced people.

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A camp for displaced people in eastern Congo (SOS Médias Burundi)