DR CONGO / MUGUNGA INSECURITY

Mugunga camp near Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered several recent attacks by armed men during which many women were raped. With no safe place to return to, the displaced people sheltering at the camp continue to live in fear. MONUSCO

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:03
• Production Date: 18 December 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION STABILIZATION MISSION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - MONUSCO
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS; HUMAN RIGHTS
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
• MAMS Id: U121218c

Description

STORY: DR CONGO / MUGUNGA INSECURITY
TRT: 2.03
SOURCE: MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: KISWAHILI / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 DECEMBER 2012, MUGUNGA IDP CAMP, GOMA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Mugunga camp for internally displaced people (IDPs)
2. Med shot, IDPs
3. Med shot, women cooking
4. Close up, meal being cooked
5. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"We have nowhere to sleep because more and more people keep arriving and it is always raining here."
6. Wide shot, FARDC soldiers
7. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"I have chest pains, eye infections, back ache, my whole body aches. I’m suffering."
8. Med shot, IDPs chewing cane
9. Wide shot, IDPs in camp
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Sabine Mubi, Local Aid Worker:
"Women are not well sensitized especially once they arrive here. There are some women who are afraid to reveal that they were raped and therefore think that they should hide and not seek for help or treatment. Therefore we need to sensitize but we also need security because women get raped day after day."
11. Wide shot, people selling food
12. Close up, food for sale
13. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Bishweka Edson, Police Commander of Mugunga Camp:
"We have been doing patrols day and night. I have positioned my men all around the camp for potential attackers to the camp. Others are patrolling within the camp to ensure that no attacks happen again."
14. Close up, kids caring for a baby
15. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
“We are appealing for peace to return so that we can find our lost children and go back to our homes to live normally.”
16. Med shot, IDPs collecting water
17. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"We need security and our leaders should sit down and agree to have peace so that us the population can be able to go back to our homes."
18. Wide shot, Mugunga IDP camp

Storyline

Life in Mugunga camp is unbearable. Food is scarce as internally displaced people (IDPs) struggle to feed their families in this camp located about 15 kilometres west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Armed men attacked Mugunga several times in the past months. During the attacks, many women were raped.

Still, more people arrive every day, fleeing fighting from various localities.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"We have nowhere to sleep because more and more people keep arriving and it always raining here."

Some of the people have been moving from camp to camp after their homes and villages were attacked by armed groups. There are an estimated 30,000 IDPs here in Mugunga.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"I have chest pains, eye infections, back ache, my whole body aches. I’m suffering."

Various UN aid agencies working in partnership with other international non-governmental organisations are trying to help the IDPs but they are overwhelmed.

SOUNDBITE (French) Sabine Mubi, Local Aid Worker:
"Women are not well sensitized especially once they arrive here. There are some women who are afraid to reveal that they were raped and therefore think that they should hide and not seek for help or treatment. Therefore we need to sensitize but we also need security because women get raped day after day."

Some women also arrived at the camp after being raped while fleeing.

Fighting has been intensive the past few weeks with the rebels from the M23 taking control of Goma.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Bishweka Edson, Police Commander of Mugunga Camp:
"We have been doing patrols day and night. I have positioned my men all around the camp for potential attackers to the camp. Others are patrolling within the camp to ensure that no attacks happen again."

Some believe that their loved ones might have been killed by armed groups or simply died of hunger.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
“We are appealing for peace to return so that we can find our lost children and go back to our homes to live normally.”

The IDPs are hoping that the on-going peace talks in Kampala, Uganda can bear fruit so that peace might return to the region, and they can return to their villages and homes to continue with their lives.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Displaced Person:
"We need security and our leaders should sit down and agree to have peace so that us the population can be able to go back to our homes."

Despite the recent withdrawal of the M23 rebel group from Goma, the security situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains uncertain.