How 100,000 people flee the fighting in Eastern Congo – dengue fever in 11 photos during the Carnival in Rio – perhaps also among Swiss tourists

Ongoing fighting between the M23 militia and government forces and other armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes in North Kivu province within days.

According to aid organizations, around 130,000 people are already on their way to the provincial capital Goma, which is also the headquarters of many aid organizations.

Most of the refugees come from the town of Sake, which is only about 25 kilometers from Goma and is the last major town on the route from the north to the provincial capital on the border with Rwanda.

“We see women from Sake and (the town of) Masisi arriving in panic because they have been separated from their children in the chaos of the flight,” said David Munkley, head of the local office of the aid group World Vision. on Wednesday.

Children arrive in the overcrowded refugee camps after days on the run. Many people said they left in a hurry and could not take anything with them when their villages were shelled.

Others who had gone to Goma from Sake on foot or in overcrowded trucks tried to save at least some of their belongings.

The situation of refugees is particularly precarious given widespread sexual violence and the forced recruitment of children and youth into armed groups.

The M23 militia had already announced days ago that it did not want to take Goma itself. But the rebel advance has interrupted supply routes to the provincial capital.

Food can almost exclusively be obtained from Rwanda, while the M23 fighters control most of the access routes. Food prices have doubled and tripled, residents report.

Caring for refugees is also becoming increasingly difficult. Many of the newcomers sleep in schools, in the courtyards of hospitals and churches.

Bombs have fallen several times in the suburbs of Goma in recent days. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Goma had reported days ago that the city’s hospitals had reached the limits of their capacity given the large number of wounded. (saw/sda/dpa)