Aid workers should not be targets and world leaders must not look away says Tearfund, after staff were killed in DRC

On World Humanitarian Day, Tearfund is calling for aid workers to be better protected, and for those who target them to be held accountable according to international humanitarian law.

Two Tearfund colleagues, Jonas Masumbuko and John Amahoro, were killed when their convoy was attacked and set alight in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 30 June. 12 other team members managed to escape.

Hebdavi Kyeya, Tearfund’s Regional Director for East and Central Africa, says they must not be forgotten.

“Aid workers like John and Jonas are paying the worst possible price for wanting to save lives,” says Mr. Kyeya. “These aren’t just terrible statistics, they were real people who’ve been violently taken from heartbroken families.”

“Local aid workers – those working in their native countries – are most at risk ^[1], but their stories go largely unreported in international media and their attackers are not held to account because those with the power to stop them are looking away,” Mr Kyeya continues.

“An aid worker’s life must not be worth less because they don’t hold a particular passport.”

It’s not just humanitarians who are coming under attack, there are growing numbers of attacks on civilians and camps for displaced people – a clear breach of International Humanitarian Law.

Tearfund is providing life-saving water and sanitation in the DRC, as well as psycho-social support for traumatised people, and training communities in peace-building.

Today, World Humanitarian Day, Tearfund’s staff around the world will hold a minute’s silence to ask world leaders to honour John and Jonas by pledging to do more to protect aid workers and civilians; to hold those who target them to account under International Humanitarian Law; and to reverse the decline in funding for vital peace-building programmes.

“At Tearfund, we see first hand the radical difference peace-building can make, especially when it’s locally led and inclusive. It can transform communities and end generations of conflict,” says Hebdavi Kyeya. “But funding is being cut. The new UK government has a unique opportunity to lead the way in supporting peace-building and conflict prevention, at home and abroad.

“I’ll never forget my last conversation with Jonas and John,” Mr Kyeya continues.

“Jonas told me:  ‘We do everything as an organisation to stay safe in the midst of this, but we can't run away from it. We follow Jesus where the need is greatest, so this is where we continue to serve.”

“Please help us to honour their sacrifice and ensure that no more aid workers and civilians are the targets of violence.”

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For further information, to request an interview with Hebdavi Kyeya, or for hi-res photographs of Jonas and John, please contact Sarah Mitchell on 07592 659986 or [email protected]

For out of hours media enquiries: 07929 339813 or [email protected]

Notes to editors:

• Tearfund unequivocally condemns any attack on humanitarian workers. It continues to provide support to the families of Jonas and John, and to the 12 colleagues who survived the attack.
• The DRC has been described as one of the world’s most forgotten crises. More than 6.9 million people ^[2] have been displaced and more than 25 million ^[3] – a quarter of the population – need humanitarian assistance just to survive.
• This year alone, 37 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in attacks on camps for displaced people in the DRC and there’s a dramatic increase in reported cases of sexual violence against women and girls.
• 2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers – the number killed has doubled in two years. 2024 is on track to be even worse.
• Tearfund’s staff and their safety are our priority and we continually review our security procedures. We work closely with local partners, fellow aid agencies and the UN to access the latest developments and security information available.
• Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org.

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