Hunger and cholera threaten displaced people in camps in East DRC

Clashes between M23 rebels and the Congolese army have displaced tens of thousands of people in the east of the DRC.

Living near the road leading to Goma, the displaced are facing starvation and often have to "fight" for the meagre rations distributed by NGOs and the Congolese government.

Thousands of tiny makeshift shelters hug the road leading north out of Goma, a symptom of the vast humanitarian crisis gripping DR Congo's turbulent east.

Since late October, many tens of thousands of people have flocked towards the relative safety of the city, fleeing the advance of the M23 rebel group.

The most vulnerable have settled near the roadside, packed inside tents cobbled together from sticks and tarpaulin on fields of lava spouted from the looming volcano Mount Nyiragongo.

Precise numbers are hard to come by, but according to International Organisation for Migration (IOM) figures from late November, over 140,000 people are camping in the Nyiragongo area north of the city of two million, or sleeping in churches and schools.

Fighting in the province displaced about 370,000 people by November 28, according to the IOM, compared to about 90,000 in late October.

Most of the displaced people sleep with just a blanket laid over the rocks. Regular downpours due to the Democratic Republic of Congo's rainy season make conditions all the more wretched.

Cholera has also recently broken out, with 21 confirmed cases, according to a humanitarian official who requested anonymity.