Kinshasa, 21 February 2022 (TDI): According to the UN Refugee Agency, violence against internally displaced people is on the rise in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNHCR).
Boris Cheshirkov, the UNHCR spokesperson, made these statements at today’s news conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, where the given text can be found.
Militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC eastern) eastern regions have been targeting people who have been forced to flee their homes this month.
According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its allies, Ituri Province has been the site of eight serious crimes against displaced people, including homicides, kidnappings, livestock robberies, and home fires. These crimes have happened in Ituri Province.
Militia gunmen slaughtered 17 individuals with machetes in Lando, a Djugu Territory village, in the early hours of February 15. There were eight children among the victims. Arsonists who set fire to the shelters killed a mother and her two children.
The UNHCR has asked all parties involved to put a halt to violence against civilians, particularly those who have been forced to leave many times. Large-scale and frequent displacements have wreaked havoc on the resources of neighboring villages.
Following a particularly vicious attack on the Plaine Savo displaced person to camp on February 1, also in Djugu Territory, Ituri, violence has grown dramatically since then. During that episode, militia members were responsible for the deaths of 62 people and the injuries of another 47.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partner, CARITAS, have been giving emergency assistance to the 25,000 people who have been displaced from their homes in the surrounding area.
Deadly attacks by militia groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are targeting displaced people.
UNHCR calls for an immediate halt to violence against civilians and for humanitarian access to provide life-saving assistance. https://t.co/rASGbNMtCY
— UNHCR United States (@UNHCRUSA) February 18, 2022
Despite the government-enforced blockade aimed at bringing peace to the region in May 2021, North Kivu Province remains insecure. Violence and cruelty against defenceless communities and displaced people continue to destabilize large swaths of the country.
Earlier this month, a ransom was paid to liberate six kidnapped residents of Masisi territory after seven people were forced to depart the area after being lashed for failing to pay an enforced price.
Thousands of people have fled their homes in Beni in the last week alone as violence against locals has escalated. There has been a lot of focus on the hardship and agony caused to local communities as a result of the ongoing attacks, particularly because many displaced people are unable to return home.
At least 10,000 people have been displaced as a result of violence between villages in South Kivu since the beginning of February.
OCHA anticipates that 2.7 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be displaced between January and November 2021. By the end of November 2021, there will be 5.6 million internally displaced people.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is pleading with all parties to allow humanitarian aid to reach people in need in order to save their lives. Kidnappings and assaults on aid workers must be stopped to guarantee that they can carry out their work without fear of harm.
To satisfy the urgent needs of the displaced in the region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR projects require US $225.4 million.
