Congo war leaves 350,000 with no shelter: UN Agency

Geneva: The UN refugee agency voiced concern at the "rapidly deteriorating" situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Friday, saying the war had left around 350,000 displaced people with no roof over their heads.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels seized eastern Congo's largest city of Goma last month and have been inching south in an advance that a local official has said may trigger a broader catastrophe in an area already housing thousands of displaced people.

UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun told journalists in Geneva by video link that around 350,000 internally displaced people had no shelter as 70,000 emergency shelters had been destroyed around Goma and Minova. Unexploded munitions had also made it unsafe for them to go home.


About 70% of Goma's camps are in ruins, and others in Minova are damaged, according to UNHCR. "Hundreds of thousands of people are now living in makeshift accommodation, including churches and hospitals," Byun said.

The agency also reported an increase in crime and said the danger of disease was growing as it and other agencies struggle to provide aid amid the fighting. "In South Kivu over 50% of the humanitarian organizations that provide critical support, such as against sexual violence, are unable to reach those in need," Byun said.

Over 80 civilians were killed in a late-night attack by the CODECO militia on a cluster of villages in eastern Congo this week, the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO said on Thursday.