MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2023) Almost one million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been displaced since January 2023 as a result of violent attacks by non-state armed groups, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.
An ongoing conflict in eastern DRC has led to the displacement of about one million people since January and about 6.1 million people overall, a 14% increase from October 2022, the organization said. Repeated violent attacks by insurgents against civilians have resulted in loss of life, mass displacement, and increased instability, it added.
On 11 June, one of the armed movements, the CODECO (Coopérative pour le développement du Congo), carried out an attack on the Lala displacement site in the eastern part of Ituri province, leading to about 46 people being killed and forcing over 7,800 people to leave.
"This recent gruesome attack is a testament to the intolerable dangers displaced people in DRC face daily," Federico Soda, IOM Director for the Department of Emergencies, said.
The situation in the DRC is rapidly deteriorating, leaving more than 26 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, the statement said.
The Second Congo War provoked outbreaks of violence in the DRC that continue to this day, with the Ituri conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups being one of them. As a result of this conflict, more than 63,000 people have been killed and 140,000 civilians displaced.
