Violence in DR Congo Worsening Humanitarian Situation, Catholic Relief Agency Cautions

According to the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO), Lendu armed groups have become notorious in carrying out attacks against the Hema and members of other ethnic groups with an objective of taking control of land and resources.

In early March, assailants attacked and injured Fr. Guy-Robert Mandro, the Parish Priest of the Immaculate Heart Parish of Fataki in the Diocese of Bunia, which falls under the volatile region of Ituri.

Violence spiked in mid-March 2020 occasioned by an increase in counter-attacks by the armed groups, leading to the loss of 700 lives and the displacement of at least 1.2 million people.

At the beginning of May 2020, the UN sounded alarm over the violence in the region, which has mostly affected women and children.

According to Mr. Hansen, homes and other infrastructure have been destroyed in the violence, including a health facility, which MI, the worldwide relief agency of the Rome-based Catholic Lay Religious Order of Malta supports. The facility was “demolished and looted,” the leadership of MI has reported.

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The new wave of violence “is putting further pressure on already stretched humanitarian services in one of the poorest, most insecure and disease-stricken parts of the country,” UNICEF officials warned May 20 noting that 70 percent of humanitarian workers had to suspend their operations over security concerns.

Mr. Hansen of MI has lamented, “Unfortunately, this crisis receives very little international publicity. While the world is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that DR Congo is not ignored.”

He has added, “We must respond quickly if we are to prevent further death and mass displacement. A deterioration in the humanitarian situation would also have a catastrophic impact on the country’s ability to fight COVID-19.” 

Headquartered in Germany and USA, MI has been present in DRC since 1996, primarily working with local organizations and national institutions to improve healthcare services in 250 medical facilities and 14 hospitals across the vast Central African nation.