The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the lives of thousands of children in overcrowded, unsanitary camps for Internally Displaced Persons in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are seriously at risk.
The agency made this known in a statement.
It noted that young people continue to flee fighting between Congolese armed forces and the resurgent non-state armed group (M23).
This has resulted in the arrival of new IDPs daily, which is in turn escalating the extent of the humanitarian crisis.
Recent reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) showed that M23 rebels captured new territory in the country’s North Kivu province.
According to HRW, the armed group, which receives direct support from Rwanda, began an offensive on 20 October and took over much of Rutshuru territory, marching into the towns of Rutshuru Centre and Kiwanja.
UNICEF Emergency Manager Dounia Dekhili said the IDPs camps are fraught with danger.
He said, ‘In addition to the cholera threat, children and young people are at risk of experiencing gender-based violence in the extremely cramped camps’.
The newly displaced persons are joining the ranks of about 200,000 IDPs forced to flee their homes since late March 2022 when the latest surge in violence began.
Meanwhile, as the security situation in eastern DRC deteriorates, humanitarian access is becoming increasingly more restricted.
Over the last ten days, about 100,000 displaced people have fled to overcrowded makeshift camps in Goma and Lubero, where flimsy shelters are no protection from frequent rainstorms.
‘There are nearly 190 children who have been separated from their families or caregivers during the chaos of recent displacements, and so far, we have reunited about 80 with their families in Nyiragongo territory alone’, the UNICEF official said.
‘The likelihood is that more unaccompanied children…will almost certainly materialise as the crisis unfolds…It is no exaggeration to say that the lives of thousands of people who live in these camps are in grave danger’.
The agency called on parties to the conflict to refrain from violence, protect children and their parents and pursue peace.
Photo source: HRW
