What is going on in Congo?

Why is no one addressing what is going on in the Congo? The DRC is currently facing one of the world's worst humanitarian and food insecurity disasters, with 25.4 million people (about the population of Texas) being food insecure and 7.3 million are currently displaced. The country has also suffered impacts of climate crisis with more frequent and severe weather causing droughts and floods. Rwanda rebels, referred to as M23, have entered the country's South Kivu provincial capital on Friday evening and they will continue their advance on Saturday. This group continues to advance despite calls for a ceasefire. Just last month M23 seized Goma, the main city in the mineral-rich east and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes in the recent weeks and the crisis has killed 2000. The latest fighting is a major escalation of a conflict over power, identity, and resources dating back to the 1990s Rwandan genocide and the fall of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in the country that was known as Zaire at the time. What is M23 exactly? M23 refers to a March 23,2009 accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt in eastern Congo, is a group of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgents made to take up arms against Congolese forces. The group has accused the Congo government of not upholding the peace deal and fully integrating Congolese Tutsis in the army and administration. The group vows to defend Tutsi interests, against ethnic Hutu militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda which is also known as FDLR. The FDLR was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide that killed 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. For about a year now, M23 has taken complete authority over Congo’s mining region of Rubaya, generating 800,000 dollars per month through production tax. Despite repeated attempts from many African leaders, negotiations to defuse the crisis have made no progress. 


Citations:
Image from AP World News

Reuters. Democratic Republic of Congo: What’s Happening and Why Are M23 Rebels Fighting? | Reuters, 14 Feb. 2025, www.reuters.com/world/africa/what-is-happening-congo-why-are-m23-rebels-fighting-2025-01-29/. 

Ross, Will. “DR Congo Conflict: M23 Rebels Capture Airport as They Advance towards Bukavu.” BBC News, BBC, 14 Feb. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmj00zjrpo. 

​Save the Children International. “What’s Happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?” Save the Children International, www.savethechildren.net/stories/whats-happening-democratic-republic-congo. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025. 







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