Global Overview 2015: People internally displaced by conflict and violence - Protracted displacement in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Multiple displacement and community resilience

Weak governance, poverty, chronic underdevelopment and pervasive corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have coalesced with armed conflict and violence to perpetuate displacement for years, sometimes even decades. As of the end of 2014, there were at least 2.7 million IDPs in the country, mainly in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, Orientale and Katanga.^[92] At least 1,003,400 people were newly displaced during the year, and 561,100 IDPs returned to their places of origin. Many others have been living in displacement for years.

Data is limited in many provinces, but there is broad recognition that protracted displacement is the fate of the majority of the country's IDPs. Almost 80 per cent of all IDPs live with local communities or host families,^[93] while others have set up spontaneous settlements, live in the bush or take refuge in official camps managed with the support of humanitarian organisations.

IDPs in North and South Kivu suffer the consequences of both protracted and multiple displacement. Decades of conflict, attacks by armed groups, inter-communal violence and human rights violations have forced many to flee their homes and places of refuge time and again. They move between and within urban and rural areas as both a protection and resilience strategy, the length of their stay in each place varying from one situation to another.^[94]

Our research on protracted and multiple displacement in Masisi territory in North Kivu and Uvira territory in South Kivu, shows that the vast majority of IDPs have been displaced more than once in their life. Some are displaced again after returning to their home areas, forced to flee their places of refuge by the threat or impact of renewed conflict. The effects of persistent violence and repeated flight are severe, both for IDPs and their hosts. Every time people are displaced, they lose more of their assets and have to start again from scratch, eroding their ability to cope and increasing their poverty, needs and vulnerability. The longer displacement goes on, the tougher the conditions IDPs and their host communities have to endure. Hosts' capacity to help and support IDPs diminishes over time and with every new wave of displacement, as does access to jobs, livelihoods, land, education and health services.

Our research also shows that multiple displacement take its toll on relationships both within and between families and communities. The more often people are displaced, the more likely their communities and families are to break up, which makes it ever more difficult to maintain or establish support networks.

People who experience multiple displacement find different ways to adapt and often resort to a combination of coping mechanisms. Short-term pendular movement, whereby IDPs shuttle between their place of origin and refuge, is often the initial strategy, helping displaced households to meet their needs and secure their land. As conflict and insecurity continue, however, and people are forced to flee again, they often abandon their fields and agricultural activities.

The provision of aid in North and South Kivu currently focuses on emergency assistance, including water, sanitation, health and shelter, which in some cases can undermine IDPs' coping strategies and increase the risk of aid dependency. The distinction that humanitarians often draw between IDPs and their host communities in their planning and programming can cause tensions and prevent IDPs' social inclusion.^[95]

Some humanitarian practitioners are trying to shift towards initiatives that support IDPs' coping mechanisms and build their resilience. The government made progress towards concluding the process to ratify the Kampala Convention in July 2014. In order to incorporate the convention into national legal and policy frameworks, a law on IDPs' protection and assistance is about to be adopted. Such instruments are important and necessary, but what matters most if they are to have a positive impact on IDPs' lives is successful implementation, particularly in the long term.

92. OCHA, September 2014, op. cit.

93. Ibid

94. World Vision et al, Assessing the humanitarian response to chronic crisis in North Kivu, October 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/66LGnD

95. Ibid