The Silent Exploitation of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, known for its mineral riches, has been plagued by ongoing conflict dating back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where just under a million people, the majority of from the ethnic group Tutsis, were killed by Hutu extremists. The end of January of this year marked the height of the conflict, with the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels capturing various cities and towns in the DRC, including almost all of Goma, a city of a million inhabitants. The ongoing crisis has exacerbated the suffering of the people who are facing displacement and mass human rights violations. Neighbouring countries have also been affected by the conflict: Burundi and South Africa have commented on the drastic effects of the conflict and its consequences for their own peoples. Astonishingly, the situation is starved of global attention and influential voices advocating for an end to the conflict.

The aforementioned Rwandan genocide ended with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a group of Tutsi rebels with Paul Kagame leading the group, seizing power and Kagame becoming President in 2000. As a result, an estimated one million Hutus fled to the DRC, in fear of genocidal revenge, which has subsequently led to aggravated tensions in the area with the Banyamulenge (Tutsi ethnic group).

Rwanda has since invaded the DRC twice, citing the need to find those who were responsible for the genocide and bringing them to justice, particularly as Hutu extremists, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), are still active in the area, some of whom were involved in genocide. Rwanda has even accused DRC authorities of working with the FDLR, which the DRC has denied.

M23, at the root of much of what ails the DRC, are a ‘Rwandan backed militia’ who claim their onslaught on the DRC was precipitated by the Congolese government’s failure to abide by the 2009 agreement intended to put down a Tutsi rebellion in the DRC’s east. They claim Tutsi minority groups have been insufficiently protected, economically ostracised, and precluded from military roles. Rwanda denies all accusations of assisting M23, however UN experts accuse the nation of providing weapons and logistical support, stating that the Rwandan army is in ‘de facto control of M23 operations’.

While the DRC is clearly riven with a paralytic cocktail of ethnically-charged political and armed conflict, their land’s natural wealth also has a hand in their suffering. Rubber, ivory, and mineral riches have been exploited by the West and China, in exploitation which dates back to the Cold War. Writing for Jacobin, Elizabeth Schmidt has stated that Rwanda utilised Congo’s minerals to rebuild the country post genocide, and that UN peacekeepers ‘have failed to protect civilian populations’, allegedly participating in the ‘abuse and plunder’. The Pope underlined the DRC’s present malaise with tragic brevity: ‘the poison of greed has smeared the country’s diamonds with blood'.

It is the Congolese people who face the brunt of all this inhumanity. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported over 7.3 million displaced within the country and 86,000 fleeing to neighbouring countries, placing pressure on the region’s limited welfare and aid nets. This extraordinary suffering of citizens may not be entirely incidental, as the UNHCR has noted that the violence has targeted schools and health centres.

Horrifyingly, M23’s capture of Goma led to the rape and immolation of over 100 female prisoners. The DRC’s government has reported 7000 deaths since January alone.

The DRC has been robbed of all sense of stability, yet the incessant expropriation and Rwandan intervention means the conflict only promises to worsen. Protection of civilians, rather than ceasefire efforts, seem the highest hopes presently. International organisations and voices must take a stronger stand in solidarity with the people of the DRC.