The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Humanitarian Crisis Grows

Diego Estevez

Staff Writer 

The central African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has recoiled from offensives conducted by Rwandan-backed rebel groups, resulting in an ever-increasing death toll and a humanitarian crisis sure to affect the entirety of the country. 

On January 27, the city of Goma, the then capital of the North Kivu region of the DRC, was captured by the Rwandan-backed M23 militia group. M23 is one of the more than 100 militias and rebel groups operating in the easter areas of the country, vying for control over its mineral-rich land. Since breaking off from the Congolese military more than 10 years ago, the M23, or March 23 Movement, has steadily gained ground in eastern DRC. According to UNICEF, recent offensives in the region have displaced over 658,000 people since the start of the year, including 282,000 children. 

The mounting unrest in the area, which many experts fear could lead to a wider regional conflict, has already claimed the lives of some 773 people, with another 2,880 injured, according to the Associated Press. However, according to Patrick Muyaya, the Congolese government spokesperson, the death toll could be much higher. The Rwandan government has been accused of aiding the M23 rebels, with reports of Rwandan soldiers being found among the ranks of militias. Rwanda has denied this on numerous occasions. Yet, the reports do not stop, with UN experts believing there to be at least 4,000 Rwandan military personnel active in the region. Rwanda’s involvement stems from the decades-long conflict along the border of these two nations. 

According to Al Jazeera, approximately 6 million people have died, with another 7 million displaced since 1998, stemming from the clashes along the DRC’s eastern border. This conflict has also led to one of the largest humanitarian crises in recent history, with the UN allocating one of the largest peacekeeping operations in the world to the DRC. However, the recent M23 campaigns have only increased the pressure on both the local populace and aid groups. 

Since the capture of the city of Goma, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has found itself unable to move freely around the city and the surrounding areas, according to UN News. With the local populace deeply affected by the conflict, the pressure on local health services has nearly paralyzed hospitals. Local health authorities have expressed great distress over the situation, with Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, the WHO representative of the DRC calling it “a situation that in public health is a nightmare.” 

With hundreds of thousands of displaced people, many of them ending up in refugee camps, the threat of disease remains an ever-present danger. Cases of cholera, malaria, and measles number in the tens of thousands, while chronic child malnutrition remains a major concern. The lack of supplies is of great concern, with UN News reporting that warehouses owned by the World Food Programme (WFP) have been looted. Apart from disease, the dangers of dehydration, malnutrition, exposure to traumatic events, and exhaustion continue to claim lives, on top of the armed conflict and the violence inherent in it.

Sexual violence has long been used as a weapon in the region, with both Congolese soldiers and rebel groups committing heinous crimes. Recently, the Munzenze jail in Goma experienced a mass prison escape, where, according to The Guardian, male prisoners set the female wing of the prison on fire to create a distraction for the escape. At the same time, other males proceeded to commit acts of sexual violence on the female prisoners before leaving them to die in the flames.

The incident is the worst in the string of atrocities committed during the M23 seizure of Goma. Such acts of barbarism have been occurring across the region, and with the limited resources and manpower available to the Congolese authorities, and foreign aid groups stretched to the breaking point, the risk of the crisis spreading to other parts of the nation remains a possibility. 

Image courtesy of Getty Images.