DRC violence pushes internally displaced people to record 6.9 million — UN

The United Nations has cautioned that the escalating violence has pushed the number of internally displaced people within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to a record 6.9 million, many of whom are in desperate need of assistance to meet their basic needs.

“The IOM is intensifying its efforts to address the complex and persistent crisis in the DRC as the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) climbs to 6.9 million people across the country — the highest number recorded yet,” according to a statement released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday. This latest increase has been caused by renewed conflict between Tutsi-led M23 rebels and militias loyal to the DRC’s government in the eastern province of North Kivu in October, particularly north of the provincial capital Goma.

“With ongoing conflict and escalating violence, the DRC is facing one of the largest internal displacement and humanitarian crises in the world,” the IOM has warned, adding that it was intensifying its efforts to address the “complex and persistent crisis” across the country.

The M23, which has captured swathes of territory in the east since 2021, is one of several militias holding sway over much of the region despite the presence of international peacekeepers. “For decades, the Congolese people have been weathering successive storms of crisis”, said Fabien Sambussy, head of the IOM mission in the country. Present in the country since 1999, the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, has become increasingly unpopular, with the DRC government calling for it to leave by December, saying it has failed to put an end to the violence perpetrated by armed groups.