in the DRC, civilians surrounded by armed rebellion

Rebel forces surround Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge.

In the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23 rebellion supported by Rwanda surrounds Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province and its two million inhabitants. The conflict has lasted for 30 years against a backdrop of ethnic rivalries and the plunder of mineral resources. Since the insurgents took up arms again in 2021, never have the fighting been so close to the capital of North Kivu, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have found refuge. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic.

He is lying on the bed, his eyes frozen, bandages all over his body. The shrapnel passed through his kidneys, took away part of his digestive system and tore off his hand. He is a member of the wazalendos, self-defense militias who fight with the Congolese army. At Ndosho hospital, we have never seen such an influx of wounded. Sidibé is the chief surgeon of the International Red Cross team: “Before, we had gunshot wounds. Now we’re talking about shells, anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, these are very serious injuries.”

“I lost two of my children and my husband”

A few days ago, the team amputated a three-month-old baby whose leg was torn apart by an explosion. The fighting is close by. They are raging in Sake, the lock of Goma, 20 kilometers from the capital of North Kivu. All access is now blocked, Goma is surrounded. The refugee camps are saturated: a million and a half people adrift.

“On the road we came across M23 fighters. They beat me, tortured me and raped the women who were with me.” The man who speaks is called Gemsi, he lives as a refugee in the Bulengo camp, under a tent whose tarpaulin no longer protects from the rain. Everywhere the same stories, everywhere the same stunned eyes. Espérance left Karuba when the shots and explosions rang out near the village: “On the road, while fleeing to get here, I lost two of my children and my husband. After two months, I learned that my husband had been killed but I never found my children. This I haven’t heard from them for two years.”

At his feet, a child with skin eaten away by disease. Left to their own devices, the children wander into neighboring fields to steal food. For women, forced to go out into the forest to look for firewood, it is the hell of rape, which 80% of them have suffered, and on several occasions. Every day, pressure increases on Goma, almost cut off from the rest of the country. The M23 rebels are on the slopes of Nyiragongo, the gigantic volcano which dominates the city. Goma which nevertheless continues to live, as if deaf to the din of war.