The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday (February 20) that 630,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes in Tanganyika Province in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it warned of an extraordinary humanitarian disaster.
Congo’s Tanganyika province has seen a sharp escalation of violence since late last year, with new armed groups forming, an increase in attacks and the use of firearms.
Clashes between militias representing the Luba, a Bantu ethnic group, and Twa pygmies, have already been going on for more than four years, driven by inequalities between Bantu villagers and the Twa, a hunting and gathering people historically excluded from access to land and basic services.
The displaced settled in various camps in Tanganyika have told tales of horrific attacks including machete attacks and rapes.
Mahecic said the intercommunal violence had led to atrocities and mass displacement, but there had also been fierce clashes between the Congolese armed forces and militia groups since the end of January.
The UNHCR is describing it as Africa’s worst displacement crisis with more than 4.5 million Congolese uprooted as they flee violence. The aid agencies are also describing it as the least funded crisis in the world.
The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland, who visited Tanganyika last week, said aid agencies were “overwhelmed and underfunded” and that the crisis needed global solidarity and a response that was totally lacking.
Tanganyika province is three times the size of Switzerland with a population of about 3 million.
