On Feb. 9, M23 fighters gave Tumusifu, her six children, and all other residents of the Bulengo displacement camp just 72 hours to leave. For the second time in weeks, they were forced to pick up their belongings and flee.
In January, they were among the hundreds of thousands who sought refuge from the fighting when Goma fell to M23. But Bulengo is no longer safe. Returning to the city region may be their only option, but it is fraught with danger.
“We’re afraid to return home,” Tumusifu, a mother of six, told UN aid workers at the time. “There is still fighting in our home village. We are hungry and do not have money to help ourselves. We’re waiting alongside the road because we do not know where to go.”
When Francine fled the displacement camp near Goma, she was separated from her husband. She fled with five of her children in one direction, while her husband ran in another with the couple’s sixth child.
“We have not seen each other since,” she said. “I’m currently taking shelter in a school, and our lives are even more challenging than they were in the camps. The most difficult thing for us is the scarcity of food and lack of water. We have no access to a health center.”
After two of WFP’s warehouses in Goma were looted, 70% of the food stored there — about 9,000 metric tons — was taken, severely limiting the World Food Programme’s (WFP) ability to support the population.
Across the country, looting has severely disrupted humanitarian operations, leaving more than 450,000 people without shelter, food, or water.
“Displaced people have not had assistance for six weeks,” said Shelley Thakral, WFP spokesperson in the DRC. “It is critical to bring food in – people are running out.”
Markets are collapsing under the strain. A recent WFP study found that maize flour — one of the region’s staples — has risen in price by almost 70%, with sharp increases also seen for salt and peanut oil.
Another critical factor is transport. Goma’s airport has been closed for more than two weeks, cutting off a vital humanitarian supply route. The WFP-operated UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is facing a funding crisis that could see services suspended by the end of March unless the agency can raise $33.1 million to keep planes flying.
Women and Girls on the Frontline
As conditions worsen, women and girls face an increased risk of sexual violence and exploitation. Many are attacked while searching for firewood, and, in extreme cases, some resort to providing sexual services to feed their families. Female-headed households are particularly vulnerable.
Since then, the crisis has escalated. After Goma, M23 fighters took over Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern DRC, and other key towns, displacing thousands more.
This insecurity extends to Goma itself, where there have been reports of crime and targeted violence, including home invasions and kidnappings. The UN peacekeeping mission for DRC, MONUSCO, has described the security situation in areas seized by M23 rebels as “unstable and highly unpredictable.”
Some Children Are Starving to Death
Despite the dangers, and with nowhere else to go, Tumusifu and her family returned to their home village near Goma. Conditions are extremely precarious.
“Food is our biggest need right now,” she says. “Some children are starving to death. There are no medicines because the clinics are closed.”
“Putting food in the hands of women and providing them with livelihood opportunities is key to curbing violence targeting women and girls,” said Thakral, adding that WFP plans to distribute 57 metric tons of food to support 11,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women at risk of severe malnutrition.
Amid all the hardship, people’s dreams of returning to the homes they had before being forced into displacement camps remain intact.
“We will not choose a life of displacement over the peace of our homeland,” said Tumusifu. “Even if we have lost everything — including our farms and livestock — we have the skills to restart.”
