Hundreds of thousands of displaced people sheltering in camps in and around the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, have been severely impacted by extreme violence over the past three weeks.
Many people are now on the move, heading toward neighboring areas as well as to the city of Goma and the remaining camps to its west.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls for their movements to remain voluntary and for urgent humanitarian assistance to be provided wherever it is most needed.
What is happening in North Kivu?
Since fighting subsided in Goma, and with M23/AFC (Alliance Fleuve Congo) now in control of parts of the region, camps that have been used to shelter people for the past three years are seeing rapid changes.
What to know about the intensified conflict in DR Congo
Learn more“This week, some camps have been largely emptied in just a few hours,” said Thierry Allafort-Duverger, head of MSF's emergency programs in Goma. “People are leaving with what little they have. We don't know in what conditions they will travel home or what they will find there. But it is crucial that these movements are voluntary and that people are safely received in the areas where they are returning.”
Rumors and conflicting messages sow confusion
Displaced people appear to be leaving the camps for several reasons. Many residents have said that evacuation orders were given by members of M23, while others have received official messages to the contrary. Others expressed a desire to leave after years surviving in desperate conditions. Some people, however, are choosing to stay on in the camps, unsure of security conditions or what they may find at home.
"The messages remain confusing and unclear, but what is certain is that the population is very worried, oscillating between rumors and reality," said Allafort. "Families are extremely vulnerable. Humanitarian aid is more than necessary, both for those who are leaving and those who are staying. Unfortunately, we are seeing that a number of NGOs have been unable to resume their activities or have suspended their services, dismantling their structures in the camps."
The population’s vulnerability and need for assistance is illustrated by the fact that, in recent days, MSF teams have witnessed some people dismantling humanitarian facilities and taking with them anything that could potentially be of use: chairs, metal sheeting, tarpaulins, ropes and so on. Other people, however, have tried to protect MSF structures from looting.
"This happened in several places where MSF was working, such as Lushagala, where an MSF clinic and a cholera treatment center disappeared in the space of a few hours on Monday," said Allafort.
People on the move face uncertain health care access
For people leaving the camps, MSF is particularly concerned about the level of access to health services when they arrive in their new location. After several years of war, many health facilities have been looted or abandoned and will be unable to provide adequate medical care to those who need it, either now or in the longer term.
For the past three years, living conditions in the camps around Goma have been desperate. But the situation in the places people have fled is likely to be equally disastrous if NGOs, UN agencies, and authorities fail to provide the minimum level of essential services.
Humanitarian organizations must be guaranteed access to all places of return, and returnees must be able to access essential health services, including support for survivors of sexual violence. Failure to provide these services risks exacerbating people’s health needs.
MSF continues to work in and around Goma
To ensure a minimum level of health care for displaced people in areas of return, MSF has set up mobile clinics on roads leading out of Goma to the east and the north. MSF teams are also carrying out assessments in the areas to which people are returning.
Even as the situation in and around Goma is evolving rapidly, MSF teams are continuing to provide vital assistance to people still living in the camps. This includes providing medical care, malnutrition treatment, cholera treatment, and care for survivors of sexual violence. MSF is also distributing clean water and food and reinforcing sanitation in the camps. Meanwhile, MSF medical teams in Kyeshero and Virunga hospitals in Goma are caring for people wounded in the violence.
