In Pictures: In Democratic Republic of the Congo, displaced Muslims have little food to break fast
It is a difficult Ramadan for hundreds of Muslims displaced by the deadly violence in the eastern DRC with little food and water to break their Ramadan fast.
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A displaced Muslim girl who fled attacks by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels standing in an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on March 27, 2023. The conflict between the Congolese army and the M23 rebellion has caused nearly one million people to flee their homes in North Kivu province since March 2022, according to a March 2023 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
AFP
Displaced Muslims who fled attacks by the M23 rebels break the Ramadan fast at nightfall at an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on March 27. Some 500 Muslims are cramped together in makeshift huts in the displaced persons’ camp in the town of Munigi. Most of them have little access to food and water.
AFP
A displaced Muslim performs ablutions before the Ramadan fast-breaking prayer at an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 27.
AFP
A displaced Muslim in prayer before breaking the Ramadan fast at nightfall at an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 27.
AFP
As night falls, Muslim worshippers pass around a platter of rice and beans, while a pale bulb comes on to light up their mosque.
AFP
“In 2012, I didn’t flee when the M23 arrived,” said Aisha Furaha. The M23 returned “with more brutality” during its second campaign, according to the 40-year-old woman. The rebels had threatened to loot and kill, Furaha said, adding that she and her 10 children had fled their home under a hail of gunfire.
AFP
A displaced Muslim woman waits for nightfall to break the Ramadan fast in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 27.
AFP
Displaced Muslims wait to break the Ramadan fast at nightfall at an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 27.
AFP
A displaced Muslim girl waiting in an informal displacement camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 27.
AFP
“The first ones arrived nearly a year ago,” said Ali Assani Mukamba, the local imam, speaking of Muslim displaced people. Walking through the mass of tiny huts built hastily on the field of volcanic rock, he explains that one of the biggest problems is a lack of fresh water.
AFP
The mosque, a small clapboard building, serves many of the worshippers who break their Ramadan fast in the camp, situated on a lava-strewn field just 10km from the front lines.
AFP
Abda Juma, the Muslim elder in Munigi, said he wanted the international community to force Rwandan President Paul Kagame to withdraw the M23. “We’re suffering a lot,” he said.
AFP
