UNHCR / DRC DISPLACED POPULATION

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR has called for urgent action in DR Congo, where renewed fighting between non-state armed group, March 23 Movement (M23) and the army has displaced over 4 million people in the last two years. UNHCR

• Video Length: 00:02:24
• Production Date: 26 March 2024
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGUEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
• MAMS Id: 3189586
• Parent Id: 3189586
• Alternate Title: unifeed240326c

Description

STORY: UNHCR / DRC DISPLACED POPULATION
TRT: 2:24
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: SWAHILI / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 MARCH 2024, RUSAYO IDP SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, shelter in displacement site
2. Wide shot, displaced people sheltering at site
3. Med shot, displaced Congolese, Asifiwe Nyirasafari Perusi walking through path
4. Wide shot, Asifiwe walking to her house
5. Close up, Asifiwe washing vegetables
6. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Asifiwe Nyirasafari Perusi, displaced person:
“We fled home because of fighting. It first started far awas in Mushaki, we thought it would not spread to our area because there were so many soldiers there. We felt safe. Later the soldiers left and we were worried about our safety. We started hearing gunfire and bombing in the hills. Many bullets were fired near our home area.”
7. Various shots, Asifiwe seated outside her house
8. Wide shot, displaced people gathered at site
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Sylvie Saiya, staff, UNHCR:
“The impact of the conflict is heavily felt by civilians who suffer the horrors of war and conflict. Families are separated, children no longer go to school, food has become complicated to find and people are forced to depend on humanitarian assistance.”
10. Wide shot, improved Shelter
11. Med shot, Saiya helping woman carry jerrycan of water
12. Close up, Saiya meeting displaced family
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Sylvie Saiya, staff, UNHCR:
“UNHCR is trying to build shelters with the available resources. We started with 3,000 shelters in Bushagara, and we already have 136 hectares of land allocated, for extension of the displacement sites.”
14. Wide shot, shelter housing displaced people at site

Storyline

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR has called for urgent action in DR Congo, where renewed fighting between non-state armed group, March 23 Movement (M23) and the army has displaced over 4 million people in the last two years.

UNHCR, the UNHCR Refugee Agency has expressed concern at the relentless violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), laying bare the catastrophic consequences of the past two years of sustained conflict, adding to a legacy of three decades of violence.

In recent weeks, a staggering 297,000 people have arrived in the provincial capital of Goma, North Kivu Province, this time with few options for safe passage elsewhere amid incursions on displacement sites and the continued indiscriminate bombing of civilian locations. UNHCR is leading the call for the civilian and humanitarian nature of displacement sites to be respected.

Since the eruption of renewed violence on the night of 18 March 2022 in the North Kivu Province, between government forces and non-state armed groups, the conflict has inflicted a staggering toll on civilian populations. Over the course of two years, this continuing violence has driven a spiralling death toll, counting at least 798 civilian deaths across the territories of Rutshuru, Masisi and Nyiragongo, and triggered the mass displacement of over 4 million people across the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. The humanitarian needs in the region have grown exponentially as conditions continue to deteriorate.

The devastating impact of this prolonged violence on civilian lives is evident in the alarming statistics and widespread suffering humanitarian teams are witnessing on a daily basis. Families continue to arrive at displacement sites traumatized and exhausted by the violence - including around Goma, North Kivu’s capital – bearing physical and psychological scars of violence, with many reporting incidents of abuse, including sexual abuse, during their flight.

Asifiwe Nyirasafari Perusi, and her eight children fled their home last December when fighting spread to their neighbourhood. The family now lives at the Rusayo displacement site in Goma.

In parallel, humanitarian actors are observing the systematic incursions of armed groups in hospitals and health centers highlighting a worrying trend. In 2023, 25 schools were occupied in Masisi and Rutshuru territories alone, and a further 17 schools attacked. In 2024, 7 schools have been destroyed by indiscriminate bombings. Additional looting of medicines and essential materials from health centers in recent weeks further underscores the restricted access to crucial services and heightened risks being faced by displaced people.

The flight of hundreds of thousands of families has resulted in a surge in displaced and unaccompanied children, exposing them to grave risks. UNHCR is appalled at the increase of incidents committed against children including kidnapping, forced recruitment, mutilation and rape, aligned with spikes in armed-group activity.

UNHCR urgently calls for concerted international action to address the escalating humanitarian crisis and to help restore stability to the region.