The main aim appeared to be to facilitate counter-insurgency operations. Conditions in the overcrowded camps are appalling, with poor hygiene and little or no infrastructure. In some camps the nearest clean water is kilometres away. In the first week of the regroupment at least 30 people, mostly women and children, were reported to have died primarily from dehydration. Little medical care is available.
Some sites are accessible only on foot, making the provision of humanitarian aid difficult.
In October, after two UN workers were killed, humanitarian operations were drastically scaled down and in November virtually no aid was being provided. Serious human rights violations were reported in the camps, which are under military control. The armed forces claim armed opposition groups have infiltrated the camps. Up to 36 unarmed civilians, including 22 women, were executed by the armed forces near the Kibembe regroupment camp on 22 October. The government claims they were members of the armed opposition.