The renewed escalation of the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is causing extreme hardship for the population. The Catholic development cooperation organisation Misereor has drawn attention to this. According to the organisation, the already tense humanitarian situation is worsening.
According to Misereor country officer Astrid Meyer, tens of thousands of people who have been displaced several times within the Congo are currently forced to live in extremely precarious conditions in makeshift refugee camps on the outskirts of Goma, a city with over a million inhabitants.
Humanitarian emergency
The problem is currently being exacerbated as more people are fleeing to the region around Goma and northern Lake Kivu in search of protection due to fighting in their home towns near the city of Rutshuru and the Nyiragongo volcano. "The humanitarian situation is catastrophic and is also having a direct impact on the local population," reports Meyer. Ursula Kölbel, who heads Misereor's dialogue and liaison office in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, adds: "The situation is hellish. The displaced people in the camps do not have enough food and drinking water or adequate medical care. Hygiene conditions are also very poor. The camps also offer no security. On 3 May, a bomb in the Mugunga camp killed 35 people. "
To make matters worse, the main access road to Goma has been blocked for months by the M23 militias (23 March Movement), resulting in supply bottlenecks. Rising prices for everyday goods affect low-income population groups in particular, but especially displaced people, as they have hardly any opportunities to earn their own income. "The security situation in Goma has deteriorated enormously," explains Meyer. "Not a day goes by without a fatality. There are repeated robberies even in broad daylight."
Women and girls particularly affected
Misereor supports the work of Caritas in Goma to help particularly vulnerable and needy refugees. The most important target group are women and girls, who have often lost relatives and are completely on their own. The state does not provide any help for these people and the women are often destitute. Many of them have also been victims of sexualised violence and are in urgent need of psychosocial support.
"The Bundestag and the Federal Government should call on and support the government representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to work towards a ceasefire in order to pave the way for negotiations with the parties to the conflict on the basis of existing agreements. Civil society should be actively involved in such a process," demands Meyer. "In view of the acute crisis, additional budget funds should be made available for humanitarian aid in North Kivu."
The violent conflict in Congo dates back to the mid-1990s and began not least as a result of the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago and the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. The M23 rebels formed in 2012 and have been fighting against the Congolese army ever since. The M23 militia were initially defeated in 2013. In November 2021, M23 fighters reappeared in eastern Congo and fought battles with Congolese troops. In the meantime, many other militia groups have also contributed to the unstable situation in eastern Congo. Currently, the Rwandan-backed M23 militias in Congo control some eastern parts of the country and have encircled the city of Goma.
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