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UN: M23 activity, militia attacks fuel displacement and restrict peacekeepers in eastern DRC
Summary
UN peacekeeping and humanitarian officials reported mounting instability near Goma and in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, saying M23 forces have consolidated checkpoints and patrols that limit UN movement and civilians continue to flee; UNHCR said tens of thousands have crossed borders and hundreds of thousands are on the move.
UN agencies reported escalating insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that is restricting peacekeeper movement and driving large displacements, with multiple attacks on civilians, abductions from hospitals and outbreaks of disease in affected towns.
At the briefing a UN spokesperson said the M23 rebel group continued to consolidate control around Goma by establishing checkpoints and patrols that restrict the UN peacekeepers’ freedom of movement at Goma airport. In Ituri province, UN peacekeeping patrols were deployed to respond to attacks by Kodeco and other armed groups; the mission reported recent attacks that killed and injured civilians and damaged infrastructure.
Bruno Lamaki, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in the DRC (as named in the briefing), was cited as expressing deep concern over a reported increase in targeted violence against civilians and infrastructure and stressing that abductions of patients from hospitals are serious violations of international law. The spokesperson said partners are concerned about a spike in cholera in Uvira, where about 25,000 people have fled to the town since mid‑February and local facilities face water shortages and limited capacity to treat cholera.
UNHCR issued guidance noting that Congolese nationals displaced by the conflict and those originating from affected areas may need refugee protection; the spokesperson said some 61,000 people had arrived in Burundi since January and around Goma about 17,000 people remain in displacement sites, while roughly 414,000 people have been on the move over the last four weeks.
Humanitarian partners told the briefing that spontaneous arrivals in territories including Masisi, Nyiragongo and Rutshuru are straining basic services in host sites and that many more people may need cross‑border protection and assistance if insecurity continues.
