Attachments
Operational Context
• Inter-communal clashes have been continuing in the Kwamouth locality, MaiNdombé province, in South-West DRC, since 25 July 2022. The conflict between the Teke and the Yaka started in a dispute over customary royalties on agricultural land. At least 18 civilians have reportedly been killed in August, including 15 in the Masiabiyo village, on the DRC side, where the village chief and his wife were both beheaded. At least 80 houses have been looted and burned. The conflict has up to now led to the displacement of 6,000 people in the DRC
• The FARDC governmental forces have been deployed in Kwamouth to restore order.
However, the security situation in the Kwamouth locality remains a concern as incidents continued in the Mai-Ndombé as of 1 September. There is a risk that these inter-communal clashes may spread to further north to Yumbi territory, from where 8,000 people fled to the Republic of the Congo four years ago. They have been seeking asylum in Congo (RoC) since December 2018 when at least 535 people were killed and more than 100 injured in similar conflicts, according to the UN Joint Human Rights Office1 .
• The recent clashes prompted the inhabitants of Masiabiyo to flee to the Republic of the Congo, together with families from the nearby town of Kwamouth. The situation in Ngabe is calm in all of the localities receiving the new arrivals. Ngabé is situated virtually opposite Kwamouth and accessible by a short boat ride. The question about the risks to DRC asylum seeks being so near to Kwamouth is considered.
• Some families continue to cross the river to seek refuge in the Republic of the Congo, in the Ngabé district, due to fighting between the DRC government forces FARDC and the ethnic armed groups. This led to a reported 200 DRC families fleeing to the village of Sidec, south of Ngabé and other sporadic arrivals in some localities in the northern Ngabé. The local authorities in Ngabé plan a fact-finding mission to Kwamouth to verify the reports. The Congo’s military contingent finished its four-day mission and returned to Brazzaville on 1 September.