Some 122,000 people, including nearly 65,000 children, were displaced in one day due to fighting in late January between the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) in North Kivu province (east), Save the Children has warned.
The non-governmental organization has indicated that it is estimated that more than half of those displaced by the fighting between January 24 and 25 in the town of Kitshanga are children and has shown its «deep concern» that they are in a situation of «incredible vulnerability» to abuse.
«Violent clashes and attacks against civilians, including children, must stop. We are witnessing a considerable escalation in the conflict between the armed group M23 and the Congolese Armed Forces, which continues to cause massive population displacement,» said the head of the NGO in DRC, Amavi Akpamagbo.
«We are also seeing violent attacks by other groups that are killing and maiming civilians, including children, in an extremely violent manner,» he lamented, before calling for these incidents «to be investigated.» «Those responsible need to be held accountable for the violence and killing of children and other civilians,» he stressed.
The United Nations recently highlighted that more than 200 civilians have been killed by armed groups over the past six weeks in Ituri province (east), with 2,000 homes destroyed and 80 schools closed or destroyed.
«The humanitarian situation is tough in DRC. Most of the displaced people are living in precarious conditions,» said Akpamagbo. There are about 5.5 million displaced people in the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In this sense, Akpamagbo detailed that many of these people «live in schools and stadiums, while others are hosted by families in places where there is no drinking water or food». «Displaced children are incredibly vulnerable. Unaccompanied or abandoned children, without family, face a higher risk of abuse,» he warned.
UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba denounced in late January that the situation for children in the eastern provinces of DRC has deteriorated «drastically» in recent months, urging «those responsible for atrocities» to be held accountable.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)