DR Congo emergency: More civilians uprooted by hostilities amid fears that regional capital Goma could come under attack
Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo…Any such attack on Goma risks catastrophic impacts on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at heightened exposure to human rights violations and abuses,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
“The High Commissioner has flagged many times that sexual violence is a key component - a very horrific component - of this conflict,” Ms. Shamdasani added. “Armed groups abduct, hold captive and subject women and girls to sexual slavery and many of them have been killed after being raped.”
Since the UN peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO, withdrew from South Kivu in June 2024, peacekeepers have defended key positions in North Kivu, including Goma and Sake, where clashes between the M23, the Congolese Armed Forces and other armed groups have continued.
Hundreds of thousands displaced
Some 400,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu since the beginning of this year alone, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
Highlighting the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold largely unseen by the outside world, UNHCR spokesperson Matt Saltmarsh reported that “bombs have fallen” on camps for people uprooted by the violence in South and North Kivu.
These attacks include one on 20 January, when explosions at Kitalaga site in South Kivu killed two children. On 21 January, five makeshift shelters were destroyed in Nzuolo, near Goma, while on Wednesday, Bushagara site - also near Goma - was “heavily impacted, causing panic and new waves of forced displacement”, Mr. Saltmarsh told journalists in Geneva.
He noted that heavy bombardments from clashes involving the M23 rebels forced families to flee various displacement sites on the periphery of Goma and try to seek safety within the city…UNHCR staff remain on the ground in Goma, assisting the displaced civilians wherever they can and wherever they get access,” he said. “But as you can understand, the access at the moment is extremely challenging.”
The development came as the UN Secretary-General on Thursday expressed alarm over a renewed offensive by M23 rebels in eastern DRC and the “devastating toll” on civilians.
In a statement issued by his Spokesperson, António Guterres noted the Rwandan-backed rebels’ seizure of Sake, in South Kivu, “which increases the threat” to the regional capital Goma – all of which is “heightening the threat of a regional war”. Rwanda denies any direct involvement with M23 fighters.
“The Secretary-General calls on the M23 to immediately cease its offensive, withdraw from all occupied areas and abide by the 31 July 2024 ceasefire agreement,” the UN chief’s statement continued.
Echoing the Secretary-General’s concerns, OHCHR spokesperson Ms. Shamdasani reiterated UN chief Volker Türk’s appeal “to all States with influence on the parties to impress on them the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities”. M23 is well funded and “as the High Commissioner has said previously, any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 in North Kivu – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end,” she insisted. “The people in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. And this must not be allowed to worsen further.”
Stark options for the uprooted
Asked to explain the dangers faced by those sheltering in camps, UNHCR’s Mr. Saltmarsh replied that their “options are stark and extremely limited...What you will receive in terms of aid is extremely limited - that depends very much on whether agencies like UNHCR and our partners in the UN and NGOs are able to access those sites. If they are, we can bring in a minimum of assistance, otherwise, civilians will be in areas that are now occupied by the armed groups. We don't have access to those areas, so it's very difficult to for us to say what conditions are like there.”
South and North Kivu Provinces already host 4.6 million internally displaced people. UNHCR has warned that human rights violations, including looting, injuries, murders, kidnappings and arbitrary arrests of displaced people mistaken for rebels have escalated.
“Hospitals are nearing capacity with injured civilians,” Mr. Saltmarsh said. “Vulnerable women, children, and the elderly are living in overcrowded and precarious conditions with limited access to food, water, and essential services.”
ends
STORY: Eastern DR Congo: Escalating violence – OHCHR, UNHCR
TRT: 02 min 58s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 JANUARY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Spokespersons:
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR
The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR
Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’
In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.