A new report released yesterday offers a revealing insight into the realities of life for those who live side-by-side with one of the most vicious and notorious armed groups in the world, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The report, A life of fear and flight: The Legacy of LRA Brutality in north-east Democratic Republic of Congo was released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and supported by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) focusses on internal displacement in Orientale province, in the north east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report highlights how In LRA affected areas of the DRC, Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan more than 20% of the population are currently internally displaced. The report highlights how those displaced in previous LRA attacks are too afraid and traumatised to return home, with 55% of over the 320,000 people currently displaced by the LRA in Orientale province living in displacement situations for up to 5 years.

For a closer look on the humanitarian situation in the north-east of DRC, please click on the map below.

A drop in violence should not lead to a drop in the provision of aid

‘While we have seen protracted displacement situations in other areas of DRC, what makes this particularly unique is the high levels of fear and trauma within these communities’ says Jan Egeland, Secretary General of NRC. ‘It is this extreme fear that is fueling the repeated and protracted nature of displacement’ and ‘the drop in LRA attacks should not be a cause for premature withdrawal of aid’ says Egeland. ‘Right now, there is an ever-growing need for specialised long-term support for communities affected by LRA, such as trauma counseling and help for former abductees facing stigmatisation. Only in doing so can we ensure that the displaced can collectively move forward from the horrendous atrocities that have been inflicted on them over the last 30 years, and find peace.’

The report may be downloaded on ReliefWeb: http://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/life-fear-and-flight-legacy-lra-brutality-north-east-democratic

For more information, please contact: Clare Spurrell, Head of Communications, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre E-Mail: clare.spurrell@nrc.ch Mobile: 41 79 379 89 52, Julia Blocher, Communications Officer, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) E-Mail: julia.blocher@nrc.ch Mobile: 41 (0)79 175 88 87.