(Kinshasa) More than 2,750 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the year in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region plagued by violence from numerous armed groups, international NGOs warned on Thursday, calling in turn for urgent humanitarian mobilization.
This assessment is mentioned in a press release from the Forum of International NGOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing as a source one of them, the INSO (International NGO security organisation), an NGO dedicated to humanitarian security.
The Forum is made up of at least 124 international non-governmental organizations operating in the DRC, the text states.
“In many areas, the presence of active non-state armed groups is aggravating the ongoing cycle of violence, triggering massive population displacements and exacerbating an already fragile humanitarian situation,” writes the Forum.
On Monday, the UN’s humanitarian coordination office (Ocha) had warned of “rampant violence” and “growing humanitarian needs” in eastern DRC. The United Nations has placed the seriousness of this crisis “at the maximum level”.
Two days later, Médecins sans Frontières demanded a “rapid and concrete” increase in humanitarian aid for eastern DRC, “in the face of a crisis of historic proportions in North Kivu”, one of the provinces most affected by violence that has been going on for almost 30 years in the region.
In its press release, the forum of international NGOs also notes a “rapid and alarming deterioration” of the humanitarian situation in the east of the country. The NGOs “are also alarmed by the reduction in the humanitarian space linked to the resurgence of the deadly violence of the conflicts and the militarization of the region”.
In addition to the increase in humanitarian aid, they call on the international community to “strengthen its political and diplomatic commitment in order to find a solution and put an end to this perpetual cycle of violence in the DRC”.