Insecurity and horrific sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC) have forced tens of thousands to flee across borders, with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. UNHCR reiterated its call on all countries to allow access to their territories for civilians fleeing conflict and violence in DRC, to guarantee the right to seek asylum and to ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulement.
Eastern DRC remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Close to the frontlines, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and human rights abuses continue to be widespread, as well as the looting and destruction of civilian homes and businesses.
Since early January, the longstanding instability and insecurity in eastern DRC has escalated as the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group has stepped up its fighting and continued to seize territory in North and South Kivu provinces. Humanitarian agencies report that large numbers of people are still on the move in eastern DRC.
The Rwandan-backed M23 seized the South Kivu capital of Bukavu on February 16, about three weeks after capturing the North Kivu capital of Goma, where fighting left more than 3,000 people dead and 2,000 others injured. After seizing the first and second-largest cities in eastern DRC, the rebels have also taken control of other key towns, including Masisi, Sake and Nyabibwe, and have set up "parallel administrations" in some of the territories they control.
“In the first two weeks of February, 895 rapes, an average of 60 a day, were reported and referred to humanitarian actors for assistance. Explosive remnants of war pose risks to children and farmers trying to tend their fields,” Patrick Eba deputy director of UNHCR's International Protection Division, told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Humanitarian access to those on the move has been impeded by continued clashes, leaving many vulnerable people without access to life-saving aid.”
UNHCR warned that the security and humanitarian situation in the DRC continues to deteriorate, with hundreds of thousands of people moving across North and South Kivu provinces.
“Close to 80,000 people have fled armed clashes into neighboring countries, including around 61,000 who have arrived in Burundi since January this year,” Eba said.
According to UNHCR, significant population movement continues within these eastern provinces. As of today, only about 17,000 people remain in displacement sites, schools and churches around the main eastern city of Goma.
Meanwhile, more than 400,000 others have been on the move for the past four weeks, forced by the de facto authorities - the M23 - to return to their villages of origin.
The UNHCR official said at least 209,000 women, children, and men from these displacement sites have arrived spontaneously in Masisi, Nyiragongo, and Rutshuru territories, “where basic services are not equipped for the sudden surge in population.”
"Given the widespread insecurity in these provinces and surrounding areas, many more may need to cross borders to find protection and assistance," he said.
UNHCR calls on states to register and document all asylum-seekers from the DRC. Asylum claims should be processed through fair, transparent and efficient procedures in accordance with international and regional refugee law and other relevant legal standards.
Across Africa, there are more than 1 million Congolese refugees, mostly in neighboring countries that have a long history of providing protection and assistance.
“We encourage them to continue upholding their refugee law obligation and humanitarian commitment and call on the international community to step up support for host countries in providing protection and assistance to refugees from the DRC,” Eba said.
Responding to questions, he said that UNHCR, like other humanitarian agencies, had been affected by the current freeze on aid funding from the United States. However, the agency continues to provide assistance on the ground in crisis-affected areas.
Asked about the effects of the US freeze on humanitarian funding on operations in the country, UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun confirmed that the agency had received a waiver lifting the 90-day suspension for "a few emergency countries, including DRC."
Eba said the crisis in the DRC was one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and that the international community needed to step up its response.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that it remains deeply concerned by increasing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including incidents affecting health facilities and schools.
In Goma, local humanitarian sources reported that M23 rebels raided at least two hospitals between Saturday and Monday, abducting at least 130 sick and wounded people - including several in critical condition. As of Monday, only a small number of patients had been released.
Following the incidents, Bruno Lemarquis, the Humanitarian Coordinator in the DRC, expressed his grave concern about the increasing number of incidents of targeted violence against civilians, medical and educational infrastructure, and humanitarian personnel in the provinces of North and South Kivu.
In a statement, Lemarquis stressed that these attacks constitute serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
"On February 27, 2025, explosions at a public gathering in Bukavu, South Kivu, claimed at least 13 civilian lives and left dozens injured. Additionally, reports indicate a worrying increase in civilian abductions, including near schools and healthcare facilities, in territories of North Kivu and South Kivu," Lemarquis added.
And in South Kivu province, local authorities report that four schools in the Fizi territory, about 250 kilometers south of Bukavu, were recently turned into military camps, disrupting the education of more than 2,000 students.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response in areas around Goma is resuming, with medicines being delivered to health facilities. On Friday, the UN World Food Program (WFP) began distributing food to 200,000 people in the surrounding areas. Plans are also reportedly underway to restore water supply after it was disrupted during the fighting.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that the UN agency and its partners in the DRC were providing life-saving clean water to 700,000 people a day - some 364,000 children - in Goma. The intense conflict at the end of January left many of the city's 2 million inhabitants, a third of whom were recently displaced, without access to clean water, sanitation and electricity.
The humanitarian crisis has created two urgent needs related to water. Hundreds of thousands of people are now moving from previous displacement sites around Goma to areas of return with limited water and sanitation services. The conflict has also destroyed widespread water infrastructure
“Clean water is a lifeline. With ongoing cholera and mpox epidemics in eastern DRC, children and families need safe water now more than ever to protect themselves and prevent a deeper health crisis,” said Jean Francois Basse , acting UNICEF Representative in DRC.
“Around the world, children in protracted conflicts are three times more likely to die from water-related diseases than violence. Re-establishing essential services needs to be prioritized, or we risk even more lives.”
Even before the recent escalation of armed conflict, DR Congo faced one of the largest and most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world, characterized by widespread human rights violations and massive forced displacement.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a population of about 118 million, with an estimated 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025, one of the highest numbers in the world. At least 8 million people in the country have been forced to flee their homes, including 1 million who have crossed borders.
Across the DRC, more than 7 million people, including 3.5 million children, have been internally displaced by the conflict. Before the recent escalation, 4.6 million people were already internally displaced in the two eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.