reliefweb.int
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council
Date: 20 Dec 2002
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Half a million displaced in latest DR Congo violence
Geneva, 20 December 2002 - Over 500,000 people have been displaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, due mainly to intensified violence in the northeastern Ituri and eastern South Kivu regions. Despite a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign troops, over 2.5 million of about 50 million Congolese are now displaced. Most have been uprooted by fighting between rebel groups, attacks on civilians, and resource plundering.
Displaced people have been attacked by all warring parties in Congo's war, and continue to be attacked in parts of the East and Northeast. Large numbers of displaced women and girls have been raped, and children have been forcibly recruited to fight. But the primary threats to displaced people are disease and hunger; the health system is decimated, and malnutrition is widespread. Most displaced children are denied an education.
Almost a million displaced people receive no aid because of insecurity in eastern DRC. Elsewhere, aid agencies are meeting some of their basic needs, but UN humanitarian efforts need more financial backing from donors. A strengthened UN security presence, meanwhile, may bring greater protection to displaced people in some areas. Displacement has been spiralling in DRC since 1996, when rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda fought a war that overthrew the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
Half a million displaced in 2002
Over 500,000 people have fled intensified fighting mainly in the north-east Ituri and eastern South Kivu regions of Congo during 2002. Hundreds of thousands have also been newly displaced by violence in Katanga and Maniema. This brings the total number of IDPs to over 2.5 million. The greatest numbers of displaced people are in North Kivu (760,000), South Kivu (435,000+), Katanga (415,000), and now Ituri (500,000) (UN OCHA 28 Feb 02 & UN 19 Nov 02).
These figures do not represent the full extent of displacement in a country where many are not identified and others have fled several times. Displaced people are difficult to count in Congo since they generally seek refuge with host families or in forests. Also, figures do not reflect when displaced people have fled again, sometimes several times, to escape violence or natural disasters. In January 2002, many people in Goma who had been displaced by conflict had to flee again when the Nyiragongo volcano erupted. The eruption caused the destruction of around 15 per cent of Goma town, and making approximately 120,000 people homeless (UN OCHA 28 Feb 02).
Anarchy and resource plunder
Many thousands of Congolese have been displaced or killed in Ituri by recent fighting between rebel groups opposed to Kinshasa and long-standing communal disputes over land. Many other civilians have been displaced by fighting in South Kivu, Katanga and Maniema between Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma) rebels, once aligned to Rwanda, and Mai Mai militias, once aligned to Kinshasa. Several conflicts have flared up between in eastern DRC since the withdrawal of Rwandan and Ugandan left armed groups competing for power.
Hopes for improved security were rekindled in December 2002 with the signing of a power-sharing deal between the Kinshasa government, RCD-Goma and Movement of Liberation of Congo (MLC) rebels, and the unarmed political opposition to establish a government of national unity and to end four years of war. The country is presently divided into three main parts: the west, controlled by Kinshasa; the east and southeast, controlled by RCD-Goma; and the north and northeast, where RCD splinter groups contend for power with the MLC and Congolese Patriotic Union (UPC) rebels.
Most foreign troops officially left DRC in 2002, raising hopes that displacement may be reduced. In mid-2002, both Rwanda and Uganda signed an agreement with Kinshasa to withdraw their troops in return for government forces to secure border regions. Uganda, however, has kept several battalions in the strife-torn Ituri region, with UN agreement (HRW 31 Oct 02). Burundi also agreed to withdraw its remaining battalions, and Kinshasa pledged that its territory will not serve as a rear base for Burundian rebels (IRIN 14 Oct 02). Governments allied to Kinshasa, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, have also withdrawn their troops (IRIN 30 Oct 02).
The plundering of natural resources by armed groups, meanwhile, is aggravating the displacement crisis in a country where war and profit are closely linked. Armed groups have reportedly forced people out of areas to exploit natural resources, like in the Kivus and Maniema (APPG Nov 02, p29). According to a UN final report on resource exploitation in DRC, the Ugandan army has provoked ethnic conflict in Ituri in order to justify the continued presence of its battalions. The UN, meanwhile, says the looting of DRC's natural resources will continue despite the withdrawal of foreign troops. Criminal networks linked to Rwandan, Ugandan and Zimbabwean armies also compete to control DRC's diamonds, gold, precious metals like coltan and other natural wealth (UN SC 16 Oct 02).
Attacked by all sides
Displaced people and other civilians are most at risk of deadly attacks in the East and Northeast of the country. In the Kivu regions, tens of thousands of unarmed civilians have been unlawfully killed, tortured and raped since 1998 (AI, 19 June 01). Some civilians have been killed by "indiscriminate and random gunfire aimed at terrorising the population, while others lost their live sin what would appear to be targeted extra judicial executions," said the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary executions (UN News Service 27 June 02). Mai Mai militias are accused of killing people by torture, including mutilation and crucifixion (US DOS 4 March 02). And according to a senior UN relief official, armed groups in Eastern DRC are now deliberately inciting ethnic hatred (UN News Service 23 Oct 02).
Many displaced girls and women have been raped and remain at risk of sexual attacks. The UN, as well as local and international human rights organizations, has denounced widespread rapes of women and girls during the conflict. Based on extensive testimonies in eastern DRC, Human Rights Watch stated in June 2002 that sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war by most of the forces involved in the conflict (HRW June 02).
Many displaced children have been forced into the conflict. Easy targets for forced recruitment, more than 10,000 children were under arms in DRC after being recruited by all parties to the conflict (Oxfam Aug 01, p.14). Girls too are recruited, and often suffer both sexual abuse and forced labour (AI 19 June 01). Commitments by the government and RCD-Goma to stop recruiting children and to demobilize child soldiers have been slow to materialize (CSUCS 7 Nov 02).
Death, disease, hunger
Displaced people and civilians continue to suffer from high rates of death and illness due to war. While the most alarming humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ituri, civilians are continuing to live in crisis conditions in many parts of northern and eastern regions. The United Nations estimates that three million people have died directly, and more often indirectly, because of war; and that 20 million of Congolese are now extremely vulnerable (UN 19 Nov 02, p16 & 42).
Displaced people are also very vulnerable to infectious diseases, with DRC's collapsed health system. Sharp increases have been reported in malaria, cholera, and meningitis. A November 2002 cholera epidemic in Katanga and Maniema, accompanied by severe malnutrition, could not even be addressed due to fighting and displacement (UN 19 Nov 02). IDPs also suffer great exposure to HIV/AIDS infection as a result of the conflict; many lack the means to protect themselves from infection and information about its transmission (Oxfam August 01). In eastern provinces, 20-22 per cent of the population may be infected with HIV (UN 19 Nov 02, p25).
Displaced Congolese have very little access to health services. Up to 70 per cent of the population is now excluded from accessing basic health services (WHO 9 August 01). The health care system, already in a weak state when the present conflict started in August 1998, has degraded further due to looting, staff fleeing and lack of resources. The situation is particularly poor in rebel-held areas.
Many displaced people are hungry or malnourished. An estimated 64 per cent of people in Eastern DRC are undernourished - the highest figure in the world (Oxfam 2 Feb 02). Between 10 and 30 per cent of the population in some areas of Katanga, Orientale, North and South Kivu suffer from acute malnutrition. Women and children are worst affected (IRIN 6 Nov 02). A UN mission to Katanga in October 2002 found high levels of malnutrition, particularly among the many displaced people who had just emerged from months of hiding in forests, barely surviving without assistance (OCHA Oct 02). The displacement of farmers, burning of fields and food stocks, and destruction of infrastructure has caused widespread malnutrion in eastern DRC, an area with considerable agricultural potential.
Without food, medicines and shelter, displaced people are also denied a range of other essential human needs. Displaced Congolese children, for example, have little hope of attending school under the current war-torn education system, reducing their prospects for a more secure future. Up to 70 per cent of children in eastern DRC have no access to education (IFRC 17 July 02).
Almost 1m displaced, without aid
Almost one million displaced people are being denied basic humanitarian aid due mainly to insecurity. More than 50 per cent of IDPs cannot be accessed by humanitarian workers, due to clashes between various armed forces, looting, and attacks of relief workers in the East and Northeast. Access to at least 900,000 IDPs in Ituri and in South Kivu was impossible, the UN reported in November 2002 (IRIN 6 Nov 02). In South Kivu, access is particularly difficult since Mai Mai guerrillas took over several towns after Rwandan troops pulled out. And the RCD has refused to allow humanitarian agencies access to vulnerable populations in zones they do not control (OCHA 23 Oct 02).
Aid agencies, where they can reach IDPs, are meeting some basic needs. In government and many UN agencies, national and international NGOs and the ICRC are assisting IDPs in rebel-held territories in crucial areas. They provide food and non-food items, health care, emergency education, support child protection and reintegration activities for the displaced. Several humanitarian agencies have recently opened sub-offices in isolated locations to get closer to displaced communities. But the response remains unbalanced. The Goma region in North Kivu, for example, receives most international assistance, while few agencies are present in Maniema Province primarily due to lack of access.
The UN needs stronger financial backing from donors to help IDPs. The 2003 UN Consolidated Appeal amounts to over US$ 268 million, compared to 194 million requested in 2002 (UN OCHA 19 Nov 02 & 26 Nov 01). It focuses on widening the humanitarian space in most affected areas of DRC and strengthening reintegration dynamics (UN 19 Nov 02). This appeal, it is hoped, will generate a better response than the 2002 appeal, which was still only 45 percent funded by mid-December 2002 (OCHA 02 "Financial Tracking").
A stronger UN security presence may also help displaced people. In December 2002, the UN Security Council decided to strengthen the Mission in the DRC (MONUC) deployed since 1999 to support the peace process (UN SC 5 Dec 02). As a result, MONUC observers should further deploy to improve the security and access situation in the East. This strengthening will hopefully improve the protection of and the assistance to the displaced. MONUC is also developing a global programme for Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Resettlement and Re-integration (DDRRR). The objective is to disarm and return all foreign armed groups to their respective countries (MONUC 02).
Displacement spirals since 1996
In mid-December 2002, the Kinshasa government, RCD-Goma and MLC rebels and unarmed political opposition signed a power-sharing deal to establish a government of national unity. Over 2.5 million people were displaced in DRC at this time, mostly in the East. The number of displaced people increased significantly in 2002 due to continued fighting between President Joseph Kabila's forces, rebel factions supported by neighbouring governments and other armed groups.
In January 2001, the assassination of President Laurent Kabila and accession of his son, Joseph Kabila, brought new momentum to the peace process. A cease-fire finally took hold, and the disengagement of forces from the front lines was completed by the end of 2001. In 2002, most foreign troops officially left DRC, raising hopes that displacement may be reduced.
In 1999, President Kabila's government, along with allies Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, signed a cease-fire agreement with Rwanda and Uganda in Lusaka, Zambia. The main rebel groups also became parties to the agreement. In November 1999, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of a UN Mission (MONUC) to support the Lusaka Accord. The cease-fire, however, was not respected; violence and displacement brought the number of IDPs to almost 1 million by the end of 1999 (UN SC 17 January 00, para. 24).
In 1998, a major rebellion was launched from the east against President Laurent Kabila's new regime, organised and supported by his erstwhile allies Rwanda and Uganda. The rebellion developed into a major war leaving over 500,000 people internally displaced by the end of 1998 (UN December 98, p.14).
In 1996, Laurent Kabila's forces, supported by Uganda and Rwanda, led a war from the east to bring an end to the dictatorial regime of Mobutu Sese Seko. Some 400,000 people were displaced in the fighting. But most IDPs were able to return home in 1997 (USCR 97, p.107). Mobutu had ruled country since 1965, soon after Zaire gained independence.
Notes
1. The Global IDP Project, based in Geneva, monitors internal displacement worldwide, as requested by the United Nations in 1998. It is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, an organization that has assisted refugees worldwide since 1953. For more information about IDPs from conflict in 49 countries, visit our website www.idpproject.org.
2. See full Country Profile on displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo: db.idpproject.org
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