In May, Bruno Lemarquis, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator and number two of MONUSCO, the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), visited areas where displaced people had settled in precarious conditions in South Kivu, which had been hit by severe flooding. He also visited North Kivu, where fighting between the army and M23 rebels was occurring.
On Saturday, the humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations and number two of Monusco, the UN mission in the DRC, visited the disaster-stricken village of Bushushu in Kalehe. The torrential rains in May and the resulting landslides left nearly 500 dead and more than 350 injured in this territory of South Kivu, prompting the UN to call for the relocation of displaced people from the area.
Bruno Lemarquis spoke with families as well as with representatives of local authorities. According to him, more durable solutions must be proposed for the inhabitants whose villages have been buried.
In North Kivu this time, the displaced people fleeing the fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels must not be forgotten.
Bruno Lemarquis also went to the Bushagara camp, near Goma, on Sunday. This camp hosts 60,000 displaced people, out of the 600,000 who have settled around the city since the resumption of hostilities between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels.
In total, a quarter of the population of North Kivu has had to flee their homes, including one million two hundred thousand people since the beginning of the year. In the Bushagara IDP camp, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator noted the extent of the needs, but he regrets that the Congolese authorities and the international community have not taken the measure of the tragedy.