Rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing a deadline of today to withdraw from the country’s largest eastern city, Goma, after seizing it last week. The conflict between the DRC government and M23 rebels from Rwanda has forced the displacement of thousands of surrounding residents. A regional summit of African countries has given the M23 until later today to withdraw from all of seized territory in the eastern DRC, but the rebels have balked so far. At the United Nations, a spokesperson for the high commissioner for human rights warned the violence continues to prevent access to civilians in need.

Adrian Edwards: “On Goma, with the recent fighting in and around the city, UNHCR is extremely concerned about the situation of displaced people in North Kivu, in particular, especially children and other vulnerable groups. Normally, we work in 31 displaced camps in North Kivu hosting just over 108,000 people. The fighting has meant that we and our partners have not been able to access most of these areas.”