The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Judith Suminwa Tuluka, reported on Monday that over 7,000 people have died in ongoing fighting in eastern Congo since January.
Speaking at a high-level meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, she also revealed that around 450,000 people have been displaced, with 90 displacement camps destroyed in the conflict.
Tuluka described the advance of the M23 rebel group as the most severe escalation in over a decade of violence in the region.
While Rwanda has denied allegations from Congo, the United Nations, and Western nations accusing it of providing support to M23, the situation continues to worsen with mass displacements and reports of summary executions.
The prime minister called on the international community to take action, urging the imposition of “dissuasive sanctions” to address the growing humanitarian crisis.
“It is impossible to describe the screams and cries of millions of victims of this conflict,” she said, emphasising the scale of suffering.
