"Living here with children is an ordeal. We ask the government to do everything possible to restore peace so that we can return home," says one displaced woman. Photos MONUSCO / Jean-Tobie Okala
The red soil and dust raised by the backfiring motorcycles and MONUSCO’s trucks remind us that the dry season has returned to Roe, a town located 120 km away from Bunia in the territory of Djugu, Ituri. It is 10 a.m. A few minutes past, the UN Mission’s helicopter carrying a dozen journalists from Bunia has just landed about ten meters from what was once an airstrip at the height of the war which rocked what was still a district of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ituri, between 1998 and 2001.
Today, of the track, there remains only this cracked red soil which divides a huge camp for displaced persons into two parts. We are told on the right, are the newcomers; they have been here less than three months. On the left, those who have been there for several months, even years. The exact number of the displaced persons who are accommodated in this site varies according to the sources: 35,000 for some, 65,000 or 70,000 for others, including humanitarian workers. What is sure is that the population in the Roe IDP site can be compared to those in an average town. However, the comparison ends there.
Malnutrition, sexual violence and prostitution
Here, residents complain about everything. Starting with the food deemed insufficient or even of “poor quality”. “We are not used to the cooking oil and flour we are given here,” complains a woman in her forties. As a result, these displaced persons claim to face diseases due to malnutrition such as kwashiorkor. But their problems aren't just about food. There is also sexual violence and prostitution, pointing an accusing finger at some men in uniforms and humanitarian aids. A young woman in her late twenties said she felt “abandoned by a humanitarian aid who was working for an NGO and who made me pregnant. I find myself alone today. I don't even have a place to sleep."
The manager of the Blukwa health center, not far from the site, warns of significant rise in HIV/AIDS cases in this site. According to Jean-Marie Lombu Dhey, 12 people tested positive in the space of a month in this camp. For the person in charge of this health facility, this situation is due to the state of vulnerability of the population and to ignorance.
Living in psychosis
Another problem for these tens of thousands of displaced persons, if not their number one problem, remains security, or rather the psychosis created by insecurity. Since the deadly attack of February 1, 2022 (at Plaine Savo still in the territory of Djugu with more than 60 dead and dozens injured), the fear that this will happen in this site of Roe worries these displaced persons.
Especially since a few days ago, two people who were going to their fields to look for food were taken hostage by assailants. They are visible at night with torches crisscrossing less than one kilometer from the Roe site.
Last week, the head of a decapitated woman who had been fetching water from a small stream below the camp was found lying on the ground. This increased the psychosis among the displaced, some of whom have fled these atrocities in their villages since 2018, to come and take refuge here. They are mainly made up of elder persons, women and children.
"The presence of this MONUSCO base is our only hope”
These vulnerable persons deprived of everything have chosen to settle in this place which they consider more secure thanks to the presence of a MONUSCO base. According to the chief of the locality of Roe, Baraka Bakwere Lera, the population here are reassured by MONUSCO’s peacekeepers who organize day-and-night patrols around the site. “When MONUSCO set up here, there was still no camp for displaced persons. They arrived later, and without MONUSCO’s presence, there would be no one here,” he says.
The local authority wants the presence of the blue helmets to be further reinforced for more security. "The whole population applaud the work of the blue helmets and urge MONUSCO to maintain their presence here, and even to increase the number of troops for more day-and-night patrols, which reassures us", declares Baraka Bakwere Lera.
According to him, the militiamen are "just on the opposite side, less than one kilometer from the displaced persons" and are often seen at night. “MONUSCO deploys its peacekeepers to chase them away and make sure they don't attack us. We hear people saying MONUSCO provide the militiamen with weapons: here, we rather say that is not true. If they did supply the armed groups with weapons, how could they still attack them? These are lies from people who seek to harm MONUSCO. The population of Roe and the displaced persons in the site are very happy with MONUSCO, they want their continued presence here, while waiting for the return of peace to allow them to return to their homes,” he said.
Survive, while waiting for peace...
While waiting for the return of peace, the daily life of these tens of thousands of displaced persons is unchanged. Children wander all day long, few go to school, while some play games with MONUSCO blue helmets. The men, among the most valiant, and the women manage as best they can to survive.
Samuel Busha, 35, is a miller. Married and father of seven children. In 2019, he fled his village near Blukwa, having lost everything: house, livestock and other person items. The only thing he was able to save was his mill. Since then, and through militia attacks, he has lived from one refugee camp to another. He just arrived here at Roe. With his mill, he manages to earn around 9000 Congolese Francs per day, or 4.5 US dollars. A small fortune here. With this, he buys soap, fuel for his mill and some salt and food for his family, “but it is extremely difficult, my dream is to return home, even immediately. It's difficult: you can't even go to the fields here; the militiamen are everywhere,’’ he says.
Rose Consolatrice Machozi agrees with him. The 24-year-old mother of three has been in this camp since 2018, following an attack on their village by assailants who set everything on fire and stole their goats. Her husband and their children naturally came to this site thanks to the presence of MONUSCO, which reassures them.
“With MONUSCO’s presence, we remain hopeful. Our day-to-day living is not at all easy. I had received some flour from Caritas; with that, I do a little trade which provides me 2000 FC per day. With that, I try to buy salt and eat, but it's not enough. We cannot go to the fields, because of the insecurity. Living here with children is quite an ordeal. We urge the Government to do everything in their power to restore peace so that we can return home,” says Rose Consolatrice, further saying, with tears in her eyes: “I always believed that I was Congolese. But under these conditions, I feel less Congolese than the others. Our children do not go to school, we cannot live at home or go to the fields, we are entitled to almost nothing...”.
The sun set on the camp for displaced people in Roe this Monday, February 14, 2022, without any of the people living there knowing when they will be able to return home, this can only happen with the peace which everyone is praying for here. After all, as a young displaced person reminds us: “There is no place like home ".