Ethnic Tensions and Armed Conflict Escalate
The M23 rebel group, dominated by ethnic Tutsis, has escalated its bid for control in eastern Congo, reigniting a long-smoldering conflict. Active in 2012, the group mounted an unsuccessful insurgency against the Congolese government before lying low for nearly a decade. However, M23 reemerged in 2022, citing the need to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan descent from alleged discrimination. The critics further argue that the group helps Rwanda to exact economic and political influence in this mineral-rich region.
Root Cause of the Conflict History
Military groups began fighting in eastern Congo after the genocide in 1994, in which Hutu militias killed anywhere from 500,000 to one million ethnic Tutsis, as well as moderate Hutus and Indigenous Twa people.
They later responded, which led to two million Hutu fleeing into neighbouring Congo fearing reprieve. Over the years ethnic tensions have broken out, for instance, lately Rwanda accuses of some of those Hutu still in Congo participation in genocide that some elements from the Congolese army was protecting them.
Humanitarian Crisis Worsens Further
The ongoing war has deteriorated an already desperate humanitarian crisis, forcing more than four million people from their homes in eastern Congo. The UN refugee agency says more than 400,000 people were forced from their homes this year alone, worsening conditions in overcrowded displacement camps around Goma. The crisis has also triggered a surge in cholera cases.
As M23 fighters advanced on Goma, thousands fled from nearby villages into the city and others escaped over the border into Rwanda. The medical staff treated the wounded as they sheltered in a bunker within Goma’s main hospital as the facility came under intense gunfire and artillery attacks. Increasing violence continues to fuel regional instability, prompting urgent international concern.