DRC - Baseline Assessment - M23 Crisis 3 - March 2023

After an apparent lull at the end of 2022, the security situation remained volatile throughout the beginning of 2023, marked by an intensification of military operations between the Congolese Armed Forces and the armed groups of the M23 fighting to expand their control over other territories, particularly those of Masisi and Lubero. While the security situation improved in some areas following a "ceasefire" decision and the apparent withdrawal of the M23 armed group from certain localities, the impact of violence and the need for protection continue to trigger new preventive displacements, as well as secondary displacements of populations fleeing attacks on various positions of the FARDC and self-defense fighters in the territories of Masisi and Rutshuru.

The volatile security situation is causing displacements from areas marked by the presence of armed groups to relatively calm communities where displaced populations settle in collective centers, sites, and host villages. Waves of returns to certain localities resulting from a relative improvement in the security situation were observed in the context of this crisis assessment conducted by IOM from March 11 to March 20, 2023, particularly in localities affected by the crisis.