Nearly 200,000 people fled their homes in the last two months as violence escalated in Ituri province, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
MSF calls on national and international organizations to increase their assistance to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the region who are sheltering in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions where minimum humanitarian standards are not being met. MSF teams are trying to address people’s most urgent needs, but more aid is needed, including basic healthcare and essential supplies such as plastic sheeting, jerry cans, soap, and sleeping mats.
“People are living in constant terror of being attacked in an area where the humanitarian needs are sharply increasing,” said Alex Wade, MSF head of mission in Ituri. “Our teams are struggling to provide healthcare to both local and displaced people because we have no guarantee of safe access to some areas.”
Civilians are the main victims of fighting between militias and the national army. The most recent attack occurred on May 17 in the Drodro region. Some villagers were killed, others were injured, and homes were burned to the ground. Following the attack, MSF staff supported health care workers to provide emergency medical treatment to women and children with gunshot and machete wounds.
The youngest victim of the attack was a 15-month-old boy who was strapped to his mother’s back when she was shot. “The bullet passed through the boy’s legs and killed his mother,” said MSF medical team leader Diop El Haji. “He was brought to Drodro general hospital by neighbors. Both his parents were killed in the attack along with his three sisters and three brothers. Of his whole family, only one brother survived after he managed to escape into the bush.”
