Since the beginning of October, the situation in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become increasingly explosive. Fighting between the M23 rebellion, the regular army and other armed groups has intensified, leading to a record number of internally displaced people.
According to the UN, the number of displaced people currently stands at 6.9 million people, making the Democratic Republic of Congo one of the countries most affected by this internal displacement crisis. The vast majority of these people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The resurgence of the M23 rebellion, supported by neighboring Rwanda, has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu. This situation has also worsened a humanitarian crisis already present for several decades in the east of the country.
Around 5.6 million displaced people are currently established in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, mainly due to the violence. Nearly a million people have fled their homes in North Kivu alone due to fighting involving the M23.
Violence also resumed in the regions of Rutshuru and Masisi, north of Goma, leading to the displacement of nearly 200,000 additional people.
The situation is all the more worrying as the majority of displaced people live with host families, exacerbating the pressure on already limited resources and basic services.
IOM is working to respond to this crisis by providing assistance in camps, strengthening mental health services and seeking additional financial resources to meet the basic needs of the displaced.
However, current funding is far from sufficient, as only $37 million has been received out of the $100 million requested by IOM for its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presence of a UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1999, MONUSCO, has failed to put an end to violence by armed groups and has become unpopular among the Congolese population. The government is even calling for an “accelerated” departure of the UN force from next December.
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is therefore critical, with one of the largest numbers of internally displaced people and a persistent humanitarian crisis. There is an urgent need for international intervention and humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of millions of displaced people in the country.