Vatican, 26 February, 2024 / 9:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis is concerned about the rise in the frequency of abductions in Nigeria and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In his traditional Sunday appearance to the public at Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square on February 25, the Holy Father said, “I am following with concern the increase in violence in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Pope Francis’ concern about violence in Eastern DRC echoes that of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Refugee Agency with the mandate to assist and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, including facilitating their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country.
In a February 23 report, UNHCR says it “is gravely concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation civilians face in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)”, and adds that “intensifying violence and conflict are exacting a heavy toll on innocent civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are attempting to seek safety on the peripheries of conflict zones.”
The report highlights the February 7 “resurgence of fighting” in Sake, a township in DRC’s North Kivu Province, resulting in the displacement of 144,000 individuals, who were “forced to flee the outskirts of Goma.”