Displaced Again: People Take Shelter in Camps After Fighting in Goma

Hundreds were injured and thousands fled their homes in eastern DRC when the rebel group M23 took the city of Goma in North Kivu Province in mid November.

People in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were thrown into yet another terrifying humanitarian crisis when a rebel group known as M23 marched on the city of Goma in North Kivu Province in mid November. In the fighting that ensued, hundreds were injured and thousands of civilians fled. Though M23 has ostensibly withdrawn from Goma, more than 100,000 people are still living in precarious conditions around the city.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which was already running several health care projects in the area, rapidly established additional emergency services, treating war-injured patients and assisting displaced people. MSF is now active in six camps, where teams are providing primary health care, screening and treating malnourished children and people suffering from cholera and other communicable diseases, vaccinating against measles, and offering support to survivors of sexual violence.

This 60-year-old woman was already living in Mugunga III camp when Goma fell to the rebels. She fled violence in Rutshuru four years ago and has been too afraid to return. Her husband is dead and she is alone in the camp.

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

A man carries food aid he’s just received. A few nights ago, Mgunga III camp was raided by armed men who stole all the food from one area of the camp, adding to the misery of its residents.

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

Displaced people wait in line at a food distribution site in Mugunga III camp outside of Goma. The Mugunga camps, where MSF provides health care free of charge to displaced Congolese, have been struggling to absorb 45,000 new people, who nearly doubled the camp's population, since late November.

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

This 22-year-old woman fled another camp and came to Mugunga III when Goma was attacked. She had to leave immediately to find safety with her baby girl. "When the rebels arrived, I ran with other displaced people,” she said. “We left so fast I was not able to take anything with me. I have nothing here. Not even a shelter."

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

Patients wait outside an MSF health center in Mugunga III camp. Teams have provided thousands of medical consultations in the camps—all free of charge. Most patients are children under five years old suffering from acute respiratory infections and diarrhea.

DRC 2012 © Aurelie Baumel/MSF

A woman sits on a bed in MSF’s cholera treatment unit in Don Bosco camp. The waterborne disease is spreading due to the lack of clean water and unhygienic conditions in the camps.

Children wait to receive measles vaccinations during an MSF vaccination campaign in Don Bosco camp. The likelihood of a deadly measles outbreak skyrockets in crowded camps like these. MSF targets children between the ages of six months to 15 years.

MSF medical staff screen children for measles and malnutrition in Don Bosco camp near Goma. There are more than 130 displaced children now enrolled in MSF’s nutrition programs.

A woman cooks for her family in Don Bosco camp. MSF has managed to distribute essential items like tarps and cooking utensils in other camps, but more distributions are needed, as are clean water and better sanitation. MSF teams are constructing hundreds of latrines and showers in some of the camps.

Displaced Again: People Take Shelter in Camps After Fighting in Goma

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Displaced Again: People Take Shelter in Camps After Fighting in Goma

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