According to a February 23 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), fighting in Sake has resulted in the displacement of 144,000 individuals, who were “forced to flee the outskirts of Goma.”
In the Salesians report, Pascal Bauma from the Salesians of Goma Project Office says, “Along the Sake-Goma road, toward Mugunga, we see children, young and old, sitting, tired, they don’t know where to go. They were displaced people who had previously set their sights on Sake. Now, following the clashes, they were forced to leave Sake and head toward Goma. This is the second time these people have had to flee for safety.”
Bauma says, “We cannot yet estimate the number of people who have moved from Sake to Goma because the situation is ongoing. Thousands of families have been forced to leave.”
He, however, says that some people have chosen to remain in their hometowns as they were afraid of living as displaced people.
“Salesians in the country are calling on the international community to help with donations and humanitarian aid to help alleviate the challenges the displaced have faced,” officials of the religious congregation say on March 11.
The intensified violence in the central African nation has caught the attention of global leaders including Pope Francis who said he is “following with concern the increase in violence in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
In his message after praying the Angelus on February 25, the Holy Father said he joins the members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) in inviting the people of God in DRC to show solidarity with the inhabitants of the Eastern part of the country through intensified prayers.
Catholic Bishops in the country issued a statement on February 20, asking for prayers for Eastern DRC.
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