War refugees in the Congo, forced from their homes, need our help | Opinion

On June 20, World Refugee Day, we focus our attention on the growing number of people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. That alarming number is more than 108 million people worldwide according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Sadly, the plight of many of these victims goes unnoticed. For example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the countries where displacement is quickly increasing.

Civilians in this African nation are going through a horror few can imagine. Armed groups have forced from their homes more than 6 million people in the DRC. Most of the victims are in three northeast provinces, North and South Kivu and Ituri.

On June 12, in the Ituri province, Congolese civilians were getting settled at the Lala displacement site. These victims had just been forced from their homes, and they were supposed to find rest and safety at the camp. Instead they were attacked again.

One of the armed groups attacked with guns and machetes — 45 people killed at the site. Some were burned alive in their shelters; 23 children were among the fatalities.

This is the tragic reality in the DRC, where families can lose their homes or lives. There are numerous armed groups to fear, and they could attack at any moment.

Valentin Tapsoba, director of UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Southern Africa, pleads, ‘‘This cycle of violence must end. We are calling for collective efforts to pacify the conflict in the Ituri province so that the Congolese people can return to their homes and their livelihoods and live in peace.”

Congolese civilians also have another enemy which may claim their lives: hunger. Overall there are nearly 26 million people in the DRC facing severe levels of hunger. But the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and other relief agencies don’t have enough funding to help them all.

”We are worried by the number of people displaced by conflict, leaving more families hungry. WFP is ramping up its assistance schemes to improve livelihoods. However, DRC needs greater investments in agriculture and rural development to turn the tide against hunger.” said Peter Musoko, WFP DRC director.

The best hope for DRC may be food for peace. Food and agricultural aid must be increased. Families in the Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces have faced the brunt of the displacement and extreme hunger. We must help these war victims return to their homes safely and begin farming again.

If people in the DRC had hope for a better life, perhaps they would not choose to join the armed groups. Peace talks and disarmament must be encouraged to end the violence.The DRC needs some stability in order to focus on the enemy of hunger, which affects the most people.

There is so much to do to recover agriculture and establish consistent food aid programs. These are goals we can help DRC achieve.

These families in the DRC, frightened and hungry, need advocates to help them survive. On World Refugee Day, and beyond, each of us can encourage peace, food aid and help for that nation’s displaced victims.

William Lambers, an author, partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”