Attachments
Regional Overview
2025 Regional Situational Overview
The humanitarian emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to be one of the most complex crises in the world, with its effects spilling across borders. The challenges of the past three decades, which have included deadly confrontations between armed groups, rampant violence, frequent flooding in some regions, highimpact epidemics like Ebola and Mpox, acute food insecurity 1 , and inadequate or absent basic infrastructure, have caused unprecedented levels of need and forced millions to flee their homes, including to neighbouring countries. This situation has worsened since the end of 2024, with conflict between FARDC, M23 and their respective Non-State Armed Group (NSAG) spreading across eastern DRC. In turn, the humanitarian and protection crisis in eastern DRC has deepened, amidst widespread reports of human rights violations against civilians - including sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) - forced recruitment of children, attacks on heavily populated civilian areas and forced displacement- as well as return- of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. While not directly related to the escalating situation in eastern DRC, traditionally safe areas, such as Mai-Ndombé, have also seen a resumption of inter-communal violence in recent months, forcing over least 8,000 people to seek refuge in the Republic of the Congo over the first four months of 2025, with the actual number of arrivals likely much higher.
As a result of the escalating conflict and continued instability, as of the end of 2024 an estimated 7.8 million people were internally displaced within the DRC - the highest DRC IDP figure on record and an increase of over a million in under a year - while over 1.1 million refugees and asylum-seekers from the DRC are hosted across the Southern and Great Lakes regions. Despite the continued efforts of regional partners to engage the parties to the conflict in a sustainable peace process, including through the Doha process mediated by Qatar, the security situation in eastern is likely to remain volatile. At the same time, beyond the ongoing conflict between the FARDC and M23 in North and South Kivu, attacks by other armed groups have also ramped-up, particularly in Ituri Province. In addition, ongoing uncertainty around the presence of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) could be a further instability. Following its withdrawal from South Kivu in April 2024, the MONUSCO mandate for operations in North Kivu and Ituri provinces was extended until December 2025. While there are concerns that any potential full withdrawal could be a further source of instability, the mission also continues to face challenges from the civilian population due to misinformation and disinformation from various groups, who claim that it is not doing enough to curb hostilities and prevent escalation.
Against this backdrop, it is expected that the asylumseeker and refugee population from the DRC will continue to grow in 2025, adding to the 53,500 people who sought protection in neighbouring R-RRP countries during 2024. In the first 4 months of 2025 alone, at least 139,000 people fled DRC to neighbouring, almost double the total number of new arrivals recorded over the whole of 2024.
The 2024-2025 DRC Regional Refugee Response Plan (Regional RRP or RRP) details the inter-agency response in seven neighbouring countries to the DRC: Angola, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. Together, they host close to 1 million refugees from the DRC – more than 53,000 of whom fled in 2024 alone. People fleeing from North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces in the DRC tend to cross the border towards Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania; those leaving Mai-Ndombé province, in the western region, mostly seek safety in the Republic of the Congo; and those escaping violence in the southern provinces of Kasaï, Haut-Katanga, and Tanganyika tend to flee into Zambia and Angola. In addition, there are also onward movements, whereby people may move from their first country of asylum to another country in search of better living conditions. In view of the current emergency in Burundi, UNHCR is closely monitoring onward movements to other countries, including via Lake Tanganyika towards Zambia.
High population growth rates, food insecurity and poor nutrition status, and worsening socioeconomic conditions, all exacerbated by escalating fuel and fertilizer prices, epidemics, and supply chain constraints, continue to put substantial pressure on host governments and communities. Additionally, food insecurity continues to be exacerbated by extreme weather patterns. Countries in the region are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, with a devastating impact on food security and livelihoods. The resulting loss of income and resources can force individuals and families to adopt harmful coping strategies exacerbating protection risks, particularly for vulnerable groups such as women and children.
All seven DRC RRP countries are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, have acceded to the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Problems of Refugee Populations in Africa, and have affirmed the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). In accordance with these frameworks, some host countries pledged at the 2019 and 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) to strengthen their asylum system capacity, as well as their registration and data collection systems, in order to enhance refugee protection and pathways towards effective inclusion and solutions. Notably, countries like Rwanda and Uganda have adopted progressive refugee laws, granting forcibly displaced communities the right to work and access national services, including education, health, and banking.
Other States have maintained reservations to specific provisions of the 1951 Convention and have adopted their own restrictive legislations, hindering refugees’ self-reliance and enjoyment of human rights. Zambia, for instance, has four reservations to the 1951 Convention concerning freedom of movement and access to education, employment/business opportunities, and travel documents.
Similarly, Angola has reservations to nine provisions to the 1951 Convention related to access to employment and property, as well as to the rights of association, freedom of movement, and reciprocity. In 2023, Angola resumed the process of registration and documentation of refugees, which had been on hold since the adoption of a new Asylum Law in 2015; however, the reestablishment of a functioning refugee status determination system is still pending. The United Republic of Tanzania’s 2003 Refugee Policy imposes restrictive measures on refugee livelihoods and enforces a strict encampment policy, although there was an agreement to ease restrictions reached during a High-Level Bilateral Meeting between the Government and UNHCR, followed by subsequent meetings with the High Commissioner for Refugees in 2022 and 2023.