Beyond Escape: A Father's Loss in the DRC
By Jacques Bouda, Emergency Communications Specialist
On May 3, 2024, Innocent experienced a tragic event that caused him to lose two of his children. The incident occurred during bombardments targeting the Mugunga and 8ème CEPAC IDPs sites, located 20 kilometers from Goma in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Innocent had fled his village of Karuba in Masisi territory due to armed conflict and sought refuge at the Mugunga site, hoping to keep himself and his family safe. Unfortunately, he found himself in a place that was still affected by the conflict.
Although Innocent is gradually recovering from the shock of losing his children, he struggles to comprehend how the conflict he escaped managed to find him and take away his two young children, aged 5 and 7
The nearby Mugunga site shows the scene of the fighting
The Mugunga site, where Innocent sought refuge, is home to approximately 40,000 displaced individuals who fled the violent clashes between the M23 rebels and the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) in North Kivu. Not far from the site, there is a military position occupied by the FARDC as they combat the M23 rebels.
According to Sengalo, a resident of the site, the proximity of the military position means that the people at Mugunga constantly hear the sound of bombs and shells. "We could hear the shells flying over our site before one exploded this morning," he explains. The residents of the site live in constant fear of shells flying overhead, but they never imagined that a shell would actually hit their site. "Some shells have fallen near the site, but none had hit our site until that day," Sengalo adds. Unfortunately, May 3, 2024 was the first time a shell landed on their site.
In the hope of saving internally displaced people in the Mugunga site
Innocent and his family fled the war in February 2024, along with his wife and their five children, seeking refuge in the Mugunga site. On the morning of May 3, Innocent woke up with his family, contemplating their challenges and how he could find a way to provide for his wife and five children.
"On the day of the tragedy, I received a phone call from my sister-in-law, asking my wife to come and get some food because she had heard that we were running low on supplies," he recalls. Informed of her sister's offer to help, Innocent's wife decided to take three of their children to her sister's place.
The loss of two of his children in the bombing
“I was sitting on a stone in front of my shelter when a young man came and asked me to come and have a conversation with him”, Innocent recalls. So, he decided to leave his shelter and go over to him. It was around 8 o'clock. As soon as he turned his back, he heard a deafening noise behind him. “We only heard the bang and saw smoke as if tyres were being burnt”, he said.
“We immediately lay down on the ground", he added. A shell had just exploded in the middle of the site. “I started to hear screaming and crying. There were shredded bodies, lots of injured people and people were screaming. My two children who were in the shelter were dead. When I arrived, people were lifting up the dead bodies and wounded people. We put them in an ambulance to take them to hospital”, he recalls.
Unfortunately, the shell fell in the middle of his shelter, killing his two children who were inside. Like a stab in the heart, Innocent had just lost two of his children in a terrible way.
Innocent has now lost his two children and is homeless. “My wife came back, saw what had happened and was directly affected by this tragic scene”, says Innocent. Faced with this situation, a displaced person from the site agreed to temporarily house Innocent's entire family. Today Innocent is psychologically affected and upset by the events. Exposed every day to the risk of losing his life and that of his family, Innocent has only one prayer: that the conflict ends and that peace returns.
Children must be protected unconditionally in times of war
According to the Congolese authorities, approximately thirty people were killed in the bombing. Despite the many challenges on the ground, World Vision International remains committed to providing aid to vulnerable individuals, particularly children, and stands in solidarity with all those affected by this tragic event.
As an organization dedicated to defending children's rights, World Vision urgently appeals and reminds people of the vital obligation to protect children during times of armed conflict. All parties involved must fulfill their natural and legal duty to safeguard children and put an end to the severe violations of children's rights and international humanitarian law.
The loss of any child's life fills us with outrage. All children simply desire to live in a highly protective environment that ensures the opportunity for them to thrive under the right conditions.