Democratic Republic of the Congo

The DRC is home to over 529,000 refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled violence in neighbouring countries, mainly the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. The majority (72%) live outside refugee camps or settlements, and only 3% live in urban areas. In addition, due to high levels of insecurity and large-scale violence against civilians, some 5.6 million Congolese are internally displaced in the DRC, with over 4 million in the eastern provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri alone. Over 990,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from the DRC are currently sheltered across the African continent.

The UNHCR DRC Country Office provides protection and assistance for all those forced to flee and the people at risk of statelessness within the country. UNHCR works in close collaboration with the DRC government to find long-term solutions to forced displacement and strengthen refugees' self-reliance, IDPs, and host communities.

For information about our work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

• Read the latest documents, reports and publications on our Data Portal
• For legislation, case law and UNHCR policy relating to claims for international protection, visit Refworld.
• For up-to-date information about our programmes and operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including funding level and donor contributions, visit Global Focus, UNHCR's reporting portal.