the violence has caused the displacement of 6.9 million people in the country, a record

It’s a record. Around 6.9 million people are currently internally displaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Monday October 30. According to the UN agency, violence is the main reason for these displacements.

Fighting has intensified since early October north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. They oppose the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups called “patriots”, and the M23 rebellion (March 23 Movement). In North Kivu alone, nearly a million residents have fled their homes due to fighting involving the M23.

At the end of October, approximately 5.6 million displaced people from the DRC were established in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, according to the IOM. Fabien Sambussy, head of mission of the UN organization in the DRC, calls for “deliver aid urgently to those who need it most.” In a press release, the IOM goes so far as to assert that “the DRC is facing one of the largest internal displacement and humanitarian crises in the world”.