After the establishment of a transitional government and the strengthening of international peacekeeping operations in June 2003, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned home. However, armed groups continue to attack civilians and cause mass displacement, particularly in the Kivu region in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN estimates that 1.6 million people remained displaced as of October 2005.

Source: Global IDP Project, ‘Some 40 000 flee ongoing fighting every month’ [article on website], (1 Mar. 2006), http://www.internal-displacement.org

In 2023, as a result of an alarming resurgence of violence generated by armed groups, 5.8 million people are displaced across the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kinshasa, 31 January 2025 – “Millions of people were already displaced by years of conflict in eastern DRC, and humanitarian needs were massive. With the current alarming upsurge in fighting, an already dire situation is rapidly becoming very much worse,” said Amy Pope, IOM Director General. “IOM joins the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and full humanitarian access, so that we can rapidly scale up our response and ensure that life-saving aid reaches those in need.”

On January 23, intense clashes broke out between the M23 armed group and government forces in Goma and nearby Sake, as well as in South Kivu towns such as Minova. The fighting occurred near densely populated camps sheltering tens of thousands of internally displaced people, including women and children.  

Several displacement sites, including on the outskirts of Goma, where over 300,000 displaced persons have sought refuge, have been partially or completely emptied as families fled the fighting. Those displaced urgently need shelter, food, clean water, medical assistance, and protection services for women and children. Essential items like blankets, mats and cooking utensils are also in critical demand. 

IOM has been supporting displaced and host communities in Goma and the surrounding areas by providing emergency shelter, water; sanitation, and hygiene assistance, camp co-ordination and management services, and monitoring population movements through IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.  

However, the organization and other humanitarian partners are struggling to meet the urgent needs of displaced communities amidst the insecurity and the limited funding.  Escalating violence has forced IOM and other humanitarian organizations to suspend operations in the most affected areas, cutting off lifesaving aid to thousands. 

Without immediate humanitarian access and additional funding, response efforts will be paralyzed. By the end of 2024, only 51 per cent of the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan had been funded to respond to the protracted conflict. The current 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for DRC appeals for USD 2.5 billion with at least USD 50 million urgently needed as a result of this new wave of displacement, to scale up life-saving humanitarian assistance and prevent further suffering. 

https://www.iom.int/news/iom-raises-alarm-over-displacement-hundreds-thousands-goma-drc

The population of internally displaced persons has increased from 5.2 million in 2022 to 6.8 million by April 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/report-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

DR Congo Conflict Displaces over 100,000 in a Week

7January 2025

Agence France-Presse

DR Congo conflict displaces more than 100,000 people in a week

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Recent fighting in part of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than 100,000 people over the last week, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office said Tuesday.

M23 rebels on Saturday seized control of Masisi, a key town in the mineral-rich DRC.

Between 1 and 3 January 2025, intense clashes between the Congolese army and a non-state armed group in Masisi Centre, North Kivu province, displaced an estimated 102,000 people, according to local reports, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Rwanda’s foreign ministry said that the areas taken by M23 forces in recent days had been in the hands of Hutu militias linked to the 1994 mass killings of Tutsis in Rwanda.

Many parts of Masisi territory are/were in the hands of the genocidal FDLR, which is a foreign force that is occupying a Congolese territory, Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said in the statement.

He also denounced international criticism that had not condemned the continued violation of the integrity of Congolese land belonging to Congolese communities, including Tutsi Congolese.

Masisi, with a population of around 40,000 people, is about 80 kilometers north of North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma.

Relative calm returned to Masisi by 5 January, prompting some displaced families to begin returning, OCHA said.

Humanitarian actors warn the influx of displaced people may worsen Masisi’s dire situation, with over 600,000 displaced as of 30 November 2024, the UN body added.

Between Friday and Monday, Doctors Without Border, or MSF, and health ministry teams treated 75 people at two hospitals in the area, MSF said in a statement Tuesday.

In addition to providing this care, these two health facilities also sheltered hundreds of civilians for several days, who sought refuge there to benefit from increased protection, said Stephane Goetghebuer, head of mission in charge of the medical charity’s projects in North Kivu.

The March 23 Movement (M23), a militia that the DRC and U.N. say is being supported by neighboring Rwanda and its army, has seized vast swaths of the east of the DRC since 2021, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Rwanda’s statement blamed the ongoing fighting on the marginalization of the Congolese Tutsi, victims of hate speech, discrimination and persecution.

Angola-mediated talks between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were abruptly canceled in mid-December over disagreements on the terms of a proposed peace deal.

For 30 years, eastern DRC has been ravaged by fighting between local and foreign armed groups, dating back to the regional wars of the 1990s.

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