Eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano: in the DRC, the populations authorized to return to Goma
The Congolese Prime Minister announced on June 7 a gradual return of tens of thousands of displaced people after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.
AFP - GUERCHOM NDEBO
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4 min
As announced by the Congolese government, the displaced populations of Goma and in the territory begin to return to the city after the volcanic eruption of May 22 and the order to evacuate of May 27.
The authorities noted the end of the flow and the solidification of the lava, as well as the significant decrease in earthquakes in the area.
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After the announcement, Monday, June 7, by the Congolese Prime Minister of a
"
gradual return
" of the tens of thousands of people
who fled after the volcanic eruption, the Minister of Communication and government spokesman Patrick Muyaya a gave some details on the schedule for the return of the populations evacuated after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano, interviewed by
Edmond Sadaka
. According to the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 120,000 people had fled Goma.
“
First of all, those who have to come back are those who were on Sake's side. They are an hour, an hour and a half from Goma. Then there are those who were in Nyiragongo-Goma, it is in the area where there was the eruption. And then, those who were in Rutshuru will be able to return from the 11th or 12th, and those who are in Bukavu from the 15th to the 17th. Then so on,
he specified.
Obviously, it was found that there were populations that were gradually starting to reach the city. The Prime Minister himself, who followed the file on the spot, gave instructions after listening to the experts from the Volcanological Observatory of Goma who told us that the trend was downward and positive and that this instruction could be given. . This is what has been done. Today, the military governor and his teams took care of supervising the returns, the government made available means of transport to ensure that those who were in Sake, for example, arrived at their destination safely.
"
The Congolese government says it relies solely on scientific data to make decisions related to the return of populations.
To support the work of the Goma Volcanological Observatory (OVG) on the ground, European scientists have made the trip to the site to measure the danger, says
our correspondent in Goma,
Patient Ligodi.
Stabilization
Nicolas Doret works for the National Museum of Natural History in Luxembourg and at the European Center for Geodynamics of Seismology: “
We really saw this injection of magma under the ground which left the volcano, which passed under the city of Goma and which stopped a little further under Lake Kivu, he
reports.
It is an injection that is about twenty kilometers long.
"
And currently, the situation is stabilizing, as Benoit Smets, also an expert, who came to Goma has also observed: “
We have seismic activity which is tending to calm down.
We have a deformation of the ground that seems to have stopped.
We would rather stabilize, stop this crisis in any case for the magma which is in depth,
”he explains.
Several thousand displaced people did not wait for the authorities' slogan to return home.
And this massive return can be explained by the urgency to get back to usual economic activities.
This is the observation of the experts including the Belgian geographer Caroline Michellier, specializing in the assessment of the vulnerability and risks of the population in the face of the volcano: “
The inhabitants of Goma consider the volcanic risk to a lesser extent than the benefit. that they can get from living in this city which provides a lot of opportunities in different areas,
”she explains.
At this point, observation of Nyiragongo activity continues.
A group of 20 scientific experts has been created to monitor the situation.
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To read also: Eruption of Nyiragongo: the return of the displaced to Goma raises the question of reconstruction
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