The rebels of the M23 claim to take Goma, the largest city in the east of the country
What is the current situation of war east of the DRC?
Goma, the big city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was, Monday, January 27, at the mercy of the March 23 (M23) movement and the Rwandan army, after several days of fighting and ‘Diplomatic escalation. Rwandan soldiers and M23 fighters entered the city this Sunday, January 26, according to several UN and security sources.
After an emergency meeting, the UN Security Council condemned the ” shameless contempt “Of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC, demanding the withdrawal” external forces Without appointing them explicitly, according to a statement published Sunday evening.
Current clashes find their distant origin in the conflict in Rwanda in the mid -1990s. The two enemy enemy enemy and Hutue found refuge, in turn, to the neighboring Zaire (former name of the DRC) and constitute armed groups there. The DRC sees the Rwandan interference on its soil with a bad eye and mixes with the conflict. Since then, Congolese power has been opposed to rebel groups.
According to estimates, the number of deaths since 1996 would amount to 6 million. The UN estimates the number of displaced people in the eastern 6.9 million in the eastern 6.9 million.
I regularly receive messages from my brothers who stayed there, in the community of Goma, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Day after day, they witness the violence that reigns there. Daily, they try to help the countless displaced people. They send me messages. Photos.
Look at this one that dates from February 18 (photo below). Men, children, pregnant women sleep on the ground, in the dust, under makeshift shelters made of tarpaulins. A meager bag of provisions to feed no less than eight mouths next to them. In this image, do you see this field? How many tents do you have? There are thousands of them. And every day, new white canvases are mounted.
Masisi, Sake, Kitshanga… The Congolese flees these villages further north of the country. Because you have to know one thing: this region of the DRC is rich in minerals. Above all, there is a coltan there. A precious, blackish metal, essential to our phones. Now, who says ores says lust. The militias, like the Mai-Mai or the Raïa Mutomboki, compete for the control of the mines. They plunder villages, families are driven from home, women are raped and thousands of people are killed.
It’s excruciating: we cut them like pieces of meat with machetes,-biche. For what ? To terrorize them so that they leave their land. Pushed by fear, these people flee south, towards Goma, on the border with Rwanda. The roads are engorged. The city is saturated: 135,000 people have already fled the fighting to the north to take refuge in the camps of the periphery of Goma.
There is no care, no food, no roofs. The health situation is catastrophic. When I ask my brothers news of the displaced, they answer me: “They are dying”. And now the rebels surround the city. They are called M 23 for movement of March 23. With a majority of Tutsia, this group was born in 2012 following the various wars that shook the region. This movement was calmed for a while. Then he resumed arms a year ago and continues to sow terror until they obtain a dialogue with the government. Rwanda is pointed out. He is accused of helping these rebels. But basically, who does what? Who is all this? We don’t know.
I speak for my Congolese brothers and sisters
Conflicts do not stop and have never stopped elsewhere. Already, in 2012, when I entered the Novitiate in Butembo (north of the country), we saw the consequences of these clashes. We heard that we were killing and slaughtered people further north, in Beni. We had a great plantation for the assumption which was occupied by the militias. Three colleagues priests were kidnapped that year. We have never heard their news. A brother of my promotion lost his father, killed in the fields by rebels. Young boys, not very large, already held a weapon in hand. Bodies of Congolese soldiers, rebels, civilians littered the ground.
Cordering death has been part of everyday life for over twenty-five years. The UN tried to send peacekeepers. But without great results. If I speak today, it is for my Congolese brothers and sisters who die every day. This Lent time should allow us to pay attention to this people. I deeply regret the lack of international solidarity. The atrocities are visible and yet we are not talking about it. We have to turn our gaze to them. Towards this hidden war. Let’s not forget the Congo.
