UN Refugee Agency Says Latest DRC Violence Displaced More Than 72,000 People

The United Nations (UN) on Friday said clashes between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army and M23 rebels in the past week have forced more than 72,000 people to flee from their homes, reported The Aljazeera.

In a statement, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said 72,000 people had fled their homes in the Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories of North Kivu province since May 19.

“At least 170,000 civilians have been displaced, often repeatedly since an escalation of fighting in eastern DRC from November 2021,” the statement added.

Separately, on Friday, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that around 37,000 people had fled Rutshuru and Nyiragongo since May 22.

The M23, a rebel group of ethnic Tutsis in eastern DRC, is staging its largest offensive against the DRC government since a 2012-2013 insurrection that captured vast swaths of the countryside. Heavy fighting has spread to Goma, the major city in the region. The militant groups have attacked army bases in the area in recent months.

The UN Refugee Agency said of the 72,000 people who have fled, about 7,000 have reportedly crossed into neighboring Uganda, while others have headed to Goma.

M23 briefly seized the city in late 2012 before the army pushed them back the following year. The rebel group resumed fighting this year again, accusing the DRC government of failing to respect a 2009 agreement that called for its fighters to be incorporated into the country’s army. They began the attacks in late March.

The DRC, a vast nation of 90 million people, has accused neighboring Rwanda of backing M23, an accusation that Rwanda denies.

Currently, the DRC is home to 5.6 million internally displaced people, according to the UN figures. There are at least 1.9 million in North Kivu, the province where the current fighting is taking place.