By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Military operations and banditry have forced more than 15,000 people to flee their homes over the past two months in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s troubled North Kivu province.

Since December, the UN refugee agency has registered 15,508 newly displaced people at dozens of UNHRC -run sites for internally displaced people (IDP), where they seek shelter and safety.

According to the fleeing families, the situation is difficult and unsafe in their villages in the western part of North Kivu. They say military operations and violence conducted by numerous armed groups are forcing civilians to seek safety elsewhere.

The United Nations Human Rights Counsel (UNHCR) registered the new caseload of internally displaced people in and around Kitchanga, in a large area to the north-west of Goma, the capital of the province. This latest wave of displacement brings the total number of IDPs in the UNHCR-run sites to 116,000. UNHCR is currently managing 47 IDP camps in the region, providing protection and assistance.

“We estimate that so far we have registered only a part of the recently displaced population and that many more could be sheltering with host families or hiding in the woods fearing to return to their homes. These IDPs cannot be accessed due to insecurity and impassable roads,” a UNHCR spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Fierce fighting has persisted in eastern DRC, particularly in North and South Kivu, where Hutu militants blamed for the Rwandan genocide of 1994 have fled. Last year the Congolese Government launched several offensives targeting the group known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), with logistical support from the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUC).

The FDLR and the national army, the FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo), are blamed for human-rights abuses in North and South Kivu, including attacking civilians, looting property, burning homes, widespread rape and sexual violence.

At least 200,000 cases of sexual violence have been recorded in eastern DRC since 1996, according to the UN. Across the country, an estimated 2.1 million people have been displaced by conflict, including about 538,880 in South Kivu Province and 1,130,000 in North Kivu.

For more information, please see:

IRIN – DRC: IDPs Hiding in North Kivu Forests – 27 January 2010

UN News – UN Agency Assisting Thousands Uprooted by Insecurity in Eastern Region – 26 January 2010

Reuters – Violence Displaces 15,000 Congolese Civilians Over Past Two Months – 26 Jan 2010