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UN: Violence in eastern DRC displaces tens of thousands, damages schools and health centers
Summary
The United Nations reported widespread displacement and infrastructure damage in North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces; humanitarian partners say tens of thousands have been newly displaced, schools and health centers were vandalized or destroyed, and rights monitors have reported summary executions by the M23 armed group.
The United Nations reported a sharp deterioration in security and humanitarian conditions in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting and displacement in and around Goma, Bukavu and parts of Ituri have forced tens of thousands from their homes.
UN peacekeeping colleagues told the spokesperson that the situation in North Kivu and South Kivu remains highly volatile. The mission is sheltering roughly 1,400 people at its premises in Goma; armed group M23 has demanded that individuals sheltered in mission bases be handed over and has accused the mission of releasing Congolese army members who then attacked civilians, the spokesperson said.
Humanitarian partners reported nearly 56,000 recently displaced people relocated to 34 newly established collective centers across Goma, primarily schools, churches and hospitals. An estimated 390,000 men, women and children remain in existing displacement sites in and around the city. The spokesperson said at least 80 schools and 27 health centers were vandalized or destroyed, disrupting education and health care access.
In Ituri’s Jugu territory, violence forced humanitarian partners to suspend activities that had been providing assistance to at least 30,000 people. Humanitarian partners also reported widespread looting in parts of Bukavu, including damage to a World Food Programme warehouse, and several churches and collective centers are hosting displaced families.
The spokesperson flagged the risk posed by unexploded ordnance: in Kalehe territory in South Kivu two children were killed by unexploded ordnance, underscoring the need for clearance work to protect civilians.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said about 25,000 people crossed from the DRC into Burundi in recent days fleeing escalating violence. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has confirmed reports of summary executions of children by M23 after they entered Bukavu, and has received reports of arbitrary arrests, degrading treatment and alleged forced returns of young men fleeing to neighboring countries. Journalists, human rights defenders and civil society members have reportedly been threatened or forced to leave the area.
The UN peacekeeping mission withdrew from parts of South Kivu in June of last year under a disengagement plan agreed with Congolese authorities and requested by the Security Council; the spokesperson said the withdrawal remains part of the agreed plan.
The spokesperson said humanitarian partners are reporting displacement, looting and severe damage to local infrastructure, and called for immediate efforts to clear unexploded ordnance and to protect civilians and humanitarian access.
The UN spokesperson attributed the figures and the rights findings to the mission, humanitarian partners, UNHCR and OHCHR.
