In early December 2025, a sudden and significant escalation of the protracted armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo triggered a large-scale humanitarian crisis with severe cross-border implications. Between 6 and 10 December, the M23 armed group launched an intensified and coordinated offensive in South Kivu Province, leading to the rapid fall of the strategic town of Uvira. This marked a clear shift in both the intensity and geographic scope of the conflict, following a period of relatively contained fighting. Due to Uvira’s immediate proximity to the Burundian border and the availability of accessible land and lake routes, civilians fled rapidly and at scale. As a result, displacement patterns changed abruptly from predominantly internal movement within South Kivu to mass cross-border flight within a matter of days.
According to UN agencies and international media, the escalation has resulted in up to 200,000 people being displaced, either as internally displaced persons in South Kivu or as refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries. As of mid-December 2025, UNHCR estimates that approximately 78,000 Congolese refugees have entered Burundi since 5 December alone. New arrivals are concentrated in overcrowded transit sites and host communities in border provinces such as Cibitoke, Rumonge, and Bubanza. Local authorities and existing humanitarian actors have been unable to absorb the sudden influx, and reception capacity and basic services are severely overstretched. Inter-agency assessments conducted on 10 December 2025 indicate that essential needs related to shelter, non-food items, food, and water and sanitation are largely unmet, while health and protection services are only partially available. Women, children, elderly persons, and people with disabilities face heightened health and protection risks, including exposure to violence, disease, and exploitation. Host communities in affected areas are also directly impacted by increased pressure on already limited resources and services.
The sudden escalation of violence, combined with the speed, scale, and cross-border nature of displacement, represents a clear spike in a protracted humanitarian crisis, generating new and acute humanitarian needs that require an immediate, life-saving response.