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STORY: UNHCR / DRC VIOLENCE DISPLACED
TRT: 6:02
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / SWAHILI / NATS
DATELINE: 12 FEBRUARY 2025, BULENGO IDP SITE, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Wide shot, destroyed tarpaulin pieces/ temporary shelter structures in background
2. Med shot, displaced man remaining his shelter
3. Various shots, Zabonimba Bonifite, Displaced Congolese rebuilding her shelter
4. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Zabonimba Bonifite, Displaced Congolese:
“I don’t know how I will rebuild my life, I even don’t know how I will reach there, I can’t walk to Masisi, at my age I can’t even reach Kirarire. If I start walking, how long will it take me to get there?”
5. Various shots, Zabonimba using hammer to nail poles together
6. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Zabonimba Bonifite, Displaced Congolese:
“I have five children, some of them fled. I don’t know if I will find them. Some went to the lake, but I don’t know where the two of them went. I don’t know if they followed the others or If they got lost, I can’t tell."
7. Med shot, displaced woman washing utensils
8. Close up, displaced women walking
9. Close up, displaced woman packing belongings
10. Various shots, displaced families looking through destroyed shelter
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdoulaye Barry, Head of Sub-office, UNHCR, GomaL
“The protection of civilians still remains a main challenge, as all of us know, the number of people who have been displaced, and many people who have been living in the sites are now out of the sites. There has been according to some information, they are being asked to vacate the sites and these people, some of them went to host families, some of them went to collective centres and some of course went back home. We are not quite sure what they will find there in their village of origin, because some of them left their village of origin two years ago or even more, so they are not
quite sure what they will find. In their areas. However UN we are working together between humanitarian agencies to see how best we can coordinate our interventions.”
12. Various shots, man leaving with luggage on motorbike
13. Med shot, motorbike riders and pedestrians using road
14. Various shots, people carrying belongings passing through road
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdoulaye Barry, Head of Sub-office, UNHCR, Goma (male, English)
“The time this fighting started we had over 700,000 IDPs displaced in Goma and surrounding Goma, which is very sad. Yet some effort could be done, just to find an agreement and stop this fighting that always, the victims, the consequences are on the civilian population.
16. Wide shot. displaced people seated along road
17. Wide shot, motorbikes with luggage of displaced people
Heavy artillery shelling and looting have destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters around Goma and Minova in North and South Kivu, once again leaving some 350,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) without a roof over their heads.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed by the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the continued lack of access to displaced people hampers aid provision at scale.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now living in overcrowded makeshift shelters, churches, schools, and hospitals. In Goma families are also impacted by the considerable increase in crime. While some 100,000 have attempted to return to their home areas, where houses have been damaged and there are little or no essential services, many remain stranded in collective centers, damaged IDP sites, or with host communities. Displaced people reported that fear of unexploded ordnances, destroyed homes and lack of basic services are major obstacles to their safe return.
UNHCR teams have seen families once again packing up their few remaining belongings, trapped in uncertainty—unable to stay, yet with no safe place to go. Among them is a 55-year-old widow, Zabonimba Bonifite and her five children who lost everything when she fled her village seeking safety in Goma. Now, she has been forced to leave the Bulengo IDP site on the outskirts of the city, with no idea of where she will go.
The crisis is worsening as people flee to areas where humanitarian aid cannot reach them due to insecurity. In South Kivu, over 50% of humanitarian organizations providing critical support to survivors of sexual violence report being unable to reach those in need due to insecurity and continuous displacement. Meanwhile, in North Kivu, the destruction of health facilities, including mortuaries, and overcrowded hospitals increases the risk of spreading infectious diseases, including cholera, malaria, and measles.
The growing displacement crisis remains one of the most urgent and concerning aspects of the situation. Residents of Bukavu, home to 1.3 million people are on high alert as insecurity worsens, prompting many to flee south or out of the country. A further influx of people into the city is expected in the coming days, potentially followed by onward movements as the fighting spreads.
UNHCR remains committed to supporting civilians and is ready to help communities recover by providing shelter and relief items for vulnerable households. However, without sufficient financial resources, the ability to provide life-saving assistance, such as shelter, healthcare, and protection - will be severely limited, further exacerbating the suffering of vulnerable populations. UNHCR urges the international community to bolster their support to prevent a deeper humanitarian catastrophe.
UNHCR calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities to ensure the safety of civilians and urges all parties to stop attacks on civilian infrastructure and guarantee unhindered humanitarian access.
