Crisis in the Congo: Millions Dead and More Displaced
With nearly 7 million people displaced, approximately 6 million people dead, and over 100 armed militia groups vying for resources and control, the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached a tipping point. The DRC has a long and brutal history of conflict centered around the country’s vast wealth of resources. However, the nation’s past and present are being globally ignored and sidelined.
In 1960, the DRC gained independence from its Belgian colonizers; however, it was not free from Western interference. The United States, France, and Belgium have manipulated Congolese elections, backing favorable candidates militarily and financially. Because of this, the Congo was, and remains to a certain extent, a Western puppet state.
The Western interference in the DRC’s government led to endemic instability and corruption. Brutal dictatorships and human rights abuses drove these conditions. Currently, the Congo is in the midst of an era of instability and genocide as militia groups try to gain power in eastern Congo.
The current situation leaves the country vulnerable to foreign powers taking advantage of the country. This instability benefits the West since there are easy to manipulate the government and take their natural resources. The current situation leaves the country vulnerable to foreign powers taking advantage of the country’s resources.
However, as this genocide of the Congolese people continues, several international aid groups have mobilized to assist. However, these groups have struggled to draw attention to the conflict. Other similar crises around the globe dwarf the sheer numbers of the dead and displaced. “There’s a sense of fatalism about Congo,” stated Cynthia Jones, the head of the UN’s World Food Program in eastern Congo. “People seem to think, 'That’s just the way it is.'"
The lack of international outcry, specifically from governments, shows the biases and racism prevalent on the world stage. The crisis in the DRC has been dangerously simplified and presented as a ‘normal’ conflict between militia groups. However, the truth is much more complicated.
The main groups involved in the crisis are M23, a Rwandan proxy force, and the ADF, which is backed by Uganda. This knowledge reveals the actual issue plaguing the DRC: international intervention.
Uganda and Rwanda, the nation’s neighbors to the east, have invaded the DRC several times with militia groups in an attempt to control some of the country’s natural resources. Uganda and Rwanda are backed militarily and financially by Western powers, mainly the United States and France, who hope to benefit from cheaper prices on raw goods.
This is at the core of the crisis. The real reason for the lack of international concern is that the most powerful countries benefit from the DRC’s instability and corruption. Uganda and Rwanda invade through proxy militia groups, take resources, and sell them to countries that support them for a cheaper price. Everyone benefits except for the over 100 million Congolese people.
Those in power in the DRC were put there by outside forces hoping to get easy, cheap access to the nation's resources. This blatant corruption has led to instability and war. The central government is not powerful enough to control the entire country.
Militia groups like M23 and the ADF have taken control of several areas of eastern Congo, abusing their newfound authority. The occupation has led to an uptick in violence and sexual abuse against women.
The New York Times interviewed a displaced woman living in an Eastern Congo housing camp. Amani, who choose to omit her last name, was attacked and raped by gunmen when collecting firewood.“They gave me a choice. ‘Either we attack you, or we kill you.’” Amani stated, “I said I prefer to be raped.” This was the second time gunmen had raped her. Amani said she needed to sell the wood she collected to feed her children. The wood she riled her life and was raped for was worth $2.
Doctors Without Borders working in clinics in the regions controlled by the M23 stated that they treat 70 sexual assault victims every day. They estimated an average of 18,000 cases this year alone.
The squalid camps provided for the displaced people are also cause for humanitarian concern. The New York Times reports the unsuitable housing of disheveled tents with sludge running between them. The camps have also been an epicenter of illness and disease, and food is scarce. The World Food Program says it has enough to feed only 2.5 million of the estimated 6.3 million people who go to bed hungry every night in Eastern Congo.
Systemic corruption, national instability, violence, and food scarcity are just a few of the issues that Congolese people face today. The ongoing crisis has been overlooked on a global scale and ignored by those who benefit from the nation’s fragile state.
The DRC is estimated to be the richest country in the world when considering its natural resources, yet despite this, the World Population Review found that the DRC is the third poorest country in the world. The nation has been exploited and abused for far too long, and we must attack the corruption globally and domestically that has led to this mass pain and suffering so we can attempt to halt any more in the future.
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