Once crowded with white makeshift huts, the huge Kanyaruchinya camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Goma, in war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), looks eerily empty now.
Since Goma was taken by Rwanda-backed M23 fighters last week, some 100,000 internally displaced people have left the jam-packed hillside, which they had called home for several years.
The M23 offensive in the mineral-rich eastern DRC is the latest to scar a region that has seen relentless conflict, involving dozens of armed groups, kill an estimated six million people over three decades.
“Life in the camp is a life of suffering and hunger,” said Christine Bwiza, one of the last people to leave Kanyaruchinya, which sits near the Rwandan border.
There, residents had cobbled together makeshift huts from sticks and tarpaulin. Hunger was rampant and poor hygiene regularly caused cholera outbreaks.
Many had mixed feelings about finally going home. Some said they were relieved, others stressed they had no choice. All worried about their future.
On the side of the road, a convoy of overcrowded trucks picked up some of the last contingents of travellers.
“I was a displaced person who came with nothing. And today I’m going home just as I came,” said Denise Zaninga, seated at the back of a vehicle, adding that she had no idea where she was headed.
“I am leaving but I don’t know where I’m going to live,” she said. Others shared her anxiety.
“Our homes are destroyed, our children are lost because of the war, and we are returning home hungry,” said Bwiza, another displaced person.
For Aline Irafasha, “hunger will kill us wherever we go, but it’s better to suffer at home.”
The driver of the truck they had boarded said the M23 had paid for the vehicle and financed the trip.
Since M23 fighters and Rwandan troops have taken control of the city, the nearby frontline has disappeared.
