Goma

A year after the current Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), new Ebola cases in Goma show potential for virus to spiral out of control.

Tariq Riebl, Oxfam's humanitarian programme coordinator said:

In reaction to the UN’s peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO’s) announcement on the enforcement of a security zone and call for disarmamen

More than one million people are at risk of militia, rebel and army attacks, with little or no protection from the government or UN peacekeepers.

As the humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo grows, with thousands of people fleeing new fighting in the past 48 hours, Oxfam is stepping up the supply of life-saving aid to more than 80,000 people in and around Goma.

Communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are being preyed on mercilessly by rebel groups and local militias, as well as their own government’s troops and officials, in a vicious cycle of exploitation and abuse according to a new Oxfam report.

Millions of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are now at the mercy of militias as the country's long-running conflict descends into widespread lawlessness with killing, kidnapping and abuse against the population at alarming levels.