DR Congo Voices: "Liberated" and Displaced

In the wake of the violent escalation in fighting in the fall between the CNDP rebel group and the Congolese national army, several camps housing displaced people in North Kivu were destroyed.  When the CNDP captured Rutshuru it went to the surrounding camps and told the displaced people they were now “liberated” and must go home. They then told the local population to destroy the camps.  It is not clear where the people forced out of the camps in Rutshuru have gone.  For those, like this 76 year old woman, who did not feel safe enough to return home and who had no where else to flee, the situation remains dire.

I was born in 1933.  I fled from Buramba when my husband and two children were killed by the Mai Mai one year ago.  They killed my family without any explanation.  I came to the Kinyandonyi catholic camp with my two grandchildren, who are 9 and 10 years old.

After the CNDP came to Rutshuru and the local people began destroying the camp, I said to them, I am alone, and I cannot build a new hut, please help me.  They did not destroy my hut, and it was the only one left standing in the camp.

Eventually the man who owned the land where the camp was located came and told me that I could not stay there, and he had my hut destroyed.

I spent two nights outside under the stars.  Finally the priest from the local church came and told me that I could stay in one of their buildings next to the camp, which was abandoned.  

When I first stayed in the building, other displaced people were there also.  When they left to go somewhere else, they stole my clothing and my cooking utensils.  

Since I’ve been living in this building, I haven’t received any assistance.  Local women sometimes give me food, which I have to cook, and then share with my grandchildren.  

Now that everyone else who was in the camp is gone, I don’t know where to go.  I don’t want to go back home, because that is where my husband and children were killed.

I heard that the CNDP is no longer in control of the area, but I still see soldiers around, and it’s confusing.  I’m not scared though, I just worry about my illnesses.  

I will stay here, because I do not have anywhere else to go.  Please pray for me.


Camilla Olson assessed the situation for displaced people in North Kivu and South Kivu [1] in January and February 2009.