Medesin, a Borderless Front Yale/Doctor (MSF) witnessed a new surge in atrocities in ituri province, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A new report released today “we are risking their lives to survive,” MSF highlights the extreme needs of many communities at risk due to recent attacks, increased evacuation and reduced humanitarian aid.
For decades, Ituri people have been treated as collateral damage in complex conflicts, both northeastern DRC – being direct targets and characterized by violence, the ethnic sector, and the participation of various armed groups. The conflict also severely hinders access to healthcare and the means by which families can feed themselves, but the limited provision of humanitarian aid has caused further suffering among a population that has already not attracted international attention.
MSF is urging all state and non-state armed groups of ITURI to not spare civilians and medical facilities. This is an essential sanctuary for the survival of the community.
According to the United Nations, Ituri’s violence has driven out about 100,000 people since the start of the year. (1) In January and February alone, they also reported increased violence against civilians, killing more than 200 people and injured dozens of people. In February, MSF’s medical team treated a four-year-old child and a pregnant woman due to a machete and gunshot wound, following a militia attack on Jug’s territory.
“These recent attacks have followed decades of violence and catastrophic consequences for civilians, including women and children in Ituri,” said Alila Khalidou, MSF mission director at DRC. “The crisis here is characterized by repeated displacements. Violence forces civilians to take lives and bring life back to life. What’s worse, it’s a story where patients and communities represent us only the tip of the iceberg.”
Block access to healthcare
Only a few health facilities have access to ITURI’s health care, which is prey to attacks. In Jug’s territory, Fataki General Hospital was obliged to suspend its activities in mid-March following the threat of an armed group and evacuate patients. This closure will affect thousands of people left without medical care. Also in Jug, at N Drodro Health Zone, where initial 50% of the medical centers had been partially or completely destroyed and had to be relocated, n. Last year, when violence escalated this time, a patient died in bed in an armed attack on a muddy general hospital.
These attacks not only make patients reluctant to go to medical facilities, they put medical staff at risk. One doctor interviewed for the report said how he still did to perform the Caesarean section when the health center was forced to close for two months.
“It was dangerous and I was putting my life at risk, but we had no choice,” the doctor said. “We had to sneak up with the women, otherwise they would have been dead.”
Targeting the most vulnerable
Until mid-March 2025, more than half of the 39 victims of the violence treated at Bunia’s Sarama Clinic were women and children. One mother, whose 4-year-old was injured, lost her six-month-old baby and her husband during the attack that the machete swayed. Two sisters, ages 4 and 16, were hit by machetes to their heads and arms, and their mother (8 months pregnant) was seriously injured with multiple machete injuries. We treated a 9-year-old boy who was injured by a bullet in the abdomen who witnessed the assailant attacking and killing his mother and two brothers.
When civilians evacuate to placement camps, they are still not safe. In one September 2024 example, MSF treated five civilians with bullet wounds after an attack on plain sabo camps in the Fataki Health Zone.
Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
A strong attack on civilians also increases the number of victims of sexual violence that come to MSF facilities. Women in particular face attacks when they go out looking for ways to support themselves and their families. In Drodro in 2023 and 2024, approximately 84% of victims of sexual violence treated by MSF worked in the fields, collected fires, or were attacked on the roads.
It exacerbates unmet needs
Despite the efforts of the Ministry of Health, MSF and other humanitarian organisations, people’s needs far outweigh the resources available. Food anxiety suddenly worsened in Ituri in 2024, and is now chronic in 43% of the population. The hygiene and aging shelter in the exhaust camp means diarrhea and respiratory illnesses can easily spread and have the most impact on children under the age of five.
Ituri people need to ensure safe access to healthcare and should not be forced to risk their lives for food and other needs.
