Eruption of Nyiragongo: in Rwanda, the reception of displaced people is organized as best they can
Thousands of people fled the city of Goma threatened by the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano on May 27, 2021. AP - Moses Sawasawa
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Nearly 400,000 people have fled the city of Goma since Thursday, threatened by a new eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.
In Rubavu, Rwanda, the reception of displaced people is getting organized as best they can and entire families have crossed the border with the means at hand.
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With our special
correspondent in Rubavu,
Laure Broulard
They are a few thousand to have arrived since Thursday at the Rwandan border, sometimes at the end of long walks and loaded with everything they could take in their flight: suitcase, mattress, goats or chickens ...
Some simply obeyed the order to partially evacuate the city of Goma, others left after their homes were destroyed in the many earthquakes felt over the past week.
Among these refugees, the concern is palpable.
They fear having their belongings stolen in the DRC where they seek to contact their relatives.
Many families have indeed been separated, their members having moved in opposite directions.
These people will spend the night mainly in two makeshift camps.
One is a few kilometers from Rubavu.
Rwandan authorities and aid workers have set up a few tents, a small clinic and a Covid test stand there.
The displaced have received biscuits and rice and they go to sleep on the ground or on mats.
Faced with these precarious conditions, some already want to return to Goma.
A few hundred displaced people have already done so.
Everyone is wondering about the extent of the threat that Nyiragongo still poses.
In any case, we still feel small earthquakes even if they are more and more spaced.
► To read also: Nyiragongo volcano: after the exodus of populations from Goma, the challenge of welcoming refugees
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