Human crisis in Congo ‘worse than Syria’

Conflict has forced 1.7 million people to flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, causing “a mega-crisis”, aid agencies say. This means that for the second consecutive year, DR Congo is worst-affected by conflict displacement in the world, the agencies add. DR Congo has been hit by years of instability, with […]

Conflict has forced 1.7 million people to flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, causing “a mega-crisis”, aid agencies say.

This means that for the second consecutive year, DR Congo is worst-affected by conflict displacement in the world, the agencies add.

DR Congo has been hit by years of instability, with rival militias fighting for control of territory.

The conflict has been worsened by the failure to hold elections last year.

“It’s a mega-crisis. The scale of people fleeing violence is off the charts, outpacing Syria, Yemen and Iraq,” the Norwegian Refugee Council’s DR Congo director, Ulrika Blom, said.

In a new report, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said that an average of 5,500 people fled their homes every day this year.