No fewer than 3.9 million people across several regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been displaced from their homes due to growing violence and unrest.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday that the number could rise even further.
According to a spokesperson for the UNHCR, Adrian Edwards, more than 428,000 people have been displaced over the last three months alone.
“With widespread militia activities, and unrest and violence fuelled by ethnic and political conflict affecting many areas, the risk of further displacement is high.
“The challenges of getting aid to people in need are growing fast,” Edwards said.
In particular, the regions of Tanganyika, North and South Kivu, and Kasai are the worst affected due to inter-communal clashes, fighting between armed groups and increasing number of armed militia.
He said the onset of the rainy season had complicated the matters, necessitating the need to beef up public health, sanitation and water supplies to prevent the outbreak of disease.
He said that psychosocial support as well as care for people with specific needs is also urgently required.
In the light of worsening conditions, the UN agency and humanitarian partners have declared the situation in DRC to ‘level 3’ – the highest level of emergency.
In addition to the people displaced within DRC, over 620,000 Congolese refugees are sheltering in more than 11 African nations – about 100,000 of them within the past one year.
At the same time, the number of refugees from neighbouring countries seeking refuge inside the DRC has grown by a third since early 2016 and now stands at 526,000 people.
“We continue to see new arrivals from Burundi, the Central African Republic and South Sudan,” Edwards said, noting that funding is urgently needed for the response.
Bettina Luescher, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency was scaling up capacities in the provinces of Kasai (proper) and Kasai Central.
Luescher said that these are the hardest-hit of Greater Kasai’s five provinces, with a threefold increase in the number of severely hungry people over the past 18 months.
According to her, two-thirds of the severely hungry are in Kasai province alone.
“Of the $236.2 million required for the needs of refugees, IDPs and other people of concern in the DRC, only $49.7 million has been received so far, a fifth of the amount required,” she said. (NAN)
