Only one week remains until eastern Congo’s ceasefire ends, relief workers and local civil society groups say little assistance has reached millions of people stuck in one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises, AP reported.
The United States announced a two-week humanitarian ceasefire a week ago, putting an end to combat between Congolese soldiers and rebels allegedly supported by neighboring Rwanda in the mineral-rich province.
Violence has spread throughout the country, displacing almost 7 million people, the majority of whom are from the east.
The two-week ceasefire timeframe is insufficient, and even during the truce, there have been reports of ongoing violence in the Masisi area near Goma, the capital of North Kivu, according to Abdoulaye Barry, head of the United Nations refugee agency’s regional sub-office.
The announcement of the truce elated the Bulengo displaced persons camp, one of the largest in the region, but optimism rapidly faded when supplies failed to reach the camp, according to Faustin Mahoro, a refugee and camp leader.
Eastern Congo, far from the country’s capital, Kinshasa, has long been invaded by more than 120 armed factions including mass massacres as they seek a portion of the region’s gold and other natural riches.
The most active is the March 23 Movement (M23), which previously seized Goma but now controls around half of North Kivu province, according to Richard Moncrieff, the Crisis Group’s Great Lakes area director.
This year, at least 416 violent assaults attacked citizens around the country, killing 1,467 people. According to the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, over half of the deaths occurred in the North Kivu region.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the ceasefire allowed them to work “more calmly and deliver medications” in numerous impacted regions where they already operate.
“The lack of artillery between the two parties allows us to work more safely at the locations where we provide free care,” said Camille Niel, MSF’s emergency coordinator.
Even while violence has subsided on the frontlines, the villages of Nyange and Bibwa in Masisi area saw intense battles on Wednesday between M23 rebels and certain “youth resistance fighters,” who frequently collaborate with security authorities, according to Kambere Bonane, a civil society leader in the region.
Last month, the United Nations Children’s Agency recorded a 30% rise in severe breaches against children in eastern Congo during the first three months of this year, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
The situation in the eastern DRC has deteriorated dramatically in recent months–as 6 million have died and more than 6.5 million have been displaced–while the world stands idly by and witnesses yet another genocide in which extreme violence, starvation, and displacement receive little media attention. More than 25 million Congolese receive no support from the rest of the world, as rebels from the violent “M23”–and more than 100 other groups wreak havoc.
The outside world is ignoring a massive humanitarian disaster in an area with significant humanitarian needs for decades.
While nobody talked about it, Congolese player Héritier Luvumbu Nzinga celebrated a goal with one hand in front of his mouth and two fingers of the other on his temple, during a match between his club Rayon Sports and FC Police in Kigali.
ver half a million people have abandoned their homes in the last two months, most of whom have settled in dismal camps surrounding Goma. A sea of crude houses built from wood and tarpaulins is spreading across fields studded with spiky black lava rocks. Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano which serves as a dramatic background to Goma, bubbles in the distance. Congo is now facing world’s largest hunger catastrophe, where one-third of the youth are out of school, and the citizens suffer from crimes caused by armed groups who are targeting families, causing sexual assaults against women and children, rapidly depleting food supplies, and diminishing the potable water supply.
Noxious muck flows between shelters. Disease outbreaks pose a concern. Food is scarce. According to the World Food Program, there is enough food to satisfy just 2.5 million of the estimated 6.3 million people who sleep hungry every night in eastern Congo.
More than that, rape became a routine. A mother of seven confided in The New York Times that a gunman told her, “Either we assault you or kill you.” She responded to them, “I prefer to be raped.” After the horrific ordeal, her profuse bleeding necessitated a visit to the Doctors Without Borders clinic. It was the second time she had been raped by gunmen during the conflict.