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STORY: UNHCR / DRC HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
TRT: 05:58
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SWAHILI / NATS
DATELINE: 19 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2024, BUSHAGARA / RUSAYO / LUSHAGALA EXTENSION SITES, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
21 SEPTEMBER 2024, LUSHAGALA EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
1. Various shots, improved shelters built at site 2. Various shots, people walking along path
27 SEPTEMBER 2024, BUSHAGARA EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
3. Med shot, people in the site
4. Various shots, displaced Congolese, Sebororo walking with her children
5. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Sebororo, Displaced Person:
“We all fled home from the village, on 5th of September. That is when we fled. The militia used to come to the village, but they never harmed anyone, but then they came and started killing children, men, and women. And as if that is not enough, they also started torching our crops in the farm.”
6. Close up, Sebororo
7. Various shots, Sebororo seasoning food in cooking pot cooking
8. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Sebororo, Displaced Person:
“What we would like to see is for the authorities to stop this fighting, so we can go back to our homes, because people many people are losing their lives.”
9. Wide shot, Sebororo’s children getting out of communal shelter
10. Various shots, Sebororo talking to Ruven Menikdiwela, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ruven Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, UNHCR:
“This morning, I spoke to this woman who has five young children she walked two weeks to get to this site she's still waiting for services she's still waiting for her children who apparently ill to be treated and she's still waiting for food and I realise that this is fairly typical of all of these people living in this site they all have their individual tragedies so they're not just a number they're literally you know individual stories behind each one of these numbers and individual tragedies and prolonged tragedies as well because we don't really see a solution in sight.”
12. Various shots, displaced woman looking on
21 SEPTEMBER 2024, LUSHAGALA EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
13. Med shot, water truck delivering water to site
14. Various shots, women, and children at water point
15. Various shots, tap pouring water into jerrican
16. Various shots, woman looking on
17. Various shots, people constructing shelter
18. Various shots, woman building frame for temporary shelter
19 SEPTEMBER 2024, RUSAYO EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
19. Various shots, woman feeding baby
20. Various shots, displaced people waiting in queue for cash assistance
21. Close up, ration card
22. Med shot, women waiting
23. Med shot, women having thumbprint scanned
24. Close up, money
25. Close up, aid worker counting money and handing over to beneficiary
27 SEPTEMBER 2024, BUSHAGARA EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
26. Pan left, delegation walking through site
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Ruven Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, UNHCR:
“All the parties should come to the table and should negotiate to give peace a chance so that all of these people, literally millions of people who are displaced can actually find their way back home or be integrated where they are, and to be able to live peacefully together as one community.”
19 SEPTEMBER 2024, RUSAYO EXTENSION SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
28. Wide shot, market scene
29. Med shot, displaced people looking on
30. Close up, woman looking on
Years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has seen civilians suffer horrific violence, including killings, rape, kidnappings and torching of homes, all perpetrated by non-state armed groups. The fighting has displaced over 6.4 million people in the county, forcing families to seek safety in overcrowded sites.
Prolonged conflict and human rights violations are unleashing grave suffering on internally displaced Congolese, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned.
This comes after a visit to the country last week, by the agency's top refugee protection official, Ruven Menikdiwela, where she met displaced families and listened to their concerns.
In the first half of 2024 alone, more than 940,000 people were forced to flee violence, perpetrated by a multitude of non-state armed groups. Many families have been displaced several times over. This is in addition to the more than 6.4 million people who remain displaced in the country.
Sebororo and her five children walked for two weeks to find safety, after militia attacked her home village of Kiseguru in North Kivu Province. Mwamini says the armed men killed residents indiscriminately and torched their farms, forcing people to flee in different directions. The family walked for about 93 kilometres to Bushagara site, on the outskirts of Goma city, capital of North Kivu Province.
Along the treacherous journey to find safety, says they saw many bodies on the road and were forced to spend cold nights out in the open. Many villages they passed through had been abandoned. Mwamini asked well-wishers for food, so the children had something to eat. She is thankful that her family finally made it to the displacement site.
The 38-year-old lives in a communal shelter with 90 other families. They are waiting to be allocated a house at the site. New arrivals also receive aid including cash assistance, non-food items, food rations.
Though the family is safe, does not know where her husband is, they got separated as they fled and she has not heard from him since. Sebororo was a farmer back home, growing cassava, maize, and vegetables. She says she is no longer able to provide her children with sufficient food. The family has been living at the site for two weeks now.
There are 15 sites around Goma, hosting displaced families. About 5,000 people live in Bushagara site.
Humanitarian partners have also observed systematic incursions by armed groups into civilian structures like displacement sites, hospitals, and health centres. On 26 September, the Lushagala Extension displacement site just outside Goma, was ripped apart by violence, perpetrated by non-state armed groups. The clashes, using heavy weapons, lasted five hours. Three displaced people were killed in the crossfire, and another 21 injured.
As of 31 August 2024, UNHCR had received just 37 percent of the 250 million USD required to meet the needs of displaced people in the country. UNHCR is calling for additional support and funding from the international community.
Overcrowded sites have raised deep concern amongst humanitarian actors that displaced populations may face increased exposure to disease, including the virulent mpox virus.
An alarming spike in inter-communal violence in Djugu territory, Ituri Province in mid-September saw 31 civilians murdered and 26,000 displaced towards the relative safety of neighbouring villages and a MONUSCO peacekeeping base.
During her visit, Menikdiwela also met with the Prime Minister, Vice prime minister, provincial authorities, MONUSCO, UN agencies and other partners. She also visited displacement sites in Ituri and North Kivu and met refugees in Goma.
Throughout the discussions, the message was clear that peace is the most sustainable and durable solution, and it is urgently needed. Displaced people are eager to go back home if their safety is guaranteed.
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