Nearly 400,000 people fled to the city of Goma on Thursday, threatened by a new eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.
With our special correspondent in Rubavu, Laure broulard
They are a few thousand who have arrived since Thursday at the Rwandan border, sometimes at the end of long walks and loaded with everything they could take during their flight: suitcase, mattress, goats or chickens …
Some simply followed the mission to partially evacuate the city of Goma, others left after their homes were destroyed in the many earthquakes felt in the past week. Among these refugees, the unrest is palpable. They fear that their belongings will be stolen in the Democratic Republic of Congo where they are trying to contact their relatives. Many families have really separated, their members have moved in opposite directions.
These people will spend the night mainly in two makeshift camps. One is a few kilometers from Rubavu. The Rwandan authorities and aid workers have released some tents, a small clinic and a Covid test site there. The displaced have been given biscuits and rice and are lying on the ground or on carpets.
Against these uncertain conditions, some already want to return to Goma. A few hundred displaced people have already done so. Everyone is wondering about the scale of the threat that Nyiragongo still poses. In any case, we still feel small earthquakes even though they are more and more distributed.
► See also: Nyiragongo volcano: after the emigration of the population from Goma, the challenge of receiving refugees
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