A Breakdown of the Escalated Violence in Congo

By: Mikal Yonas

In light of the recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo a little over a month ago, an escalation of deadly violence between two major militant groups has shaken the region. Clashes between militant groups and rebel groups have contributed to the majority of the violence in the region as both groups grapple to maintain territories, gain highly demanded natural resources, and seize political power. But, to truly understand the grueling effects of the ongoing conflicts in Congo, context of how they were sparked is needed.

The core of the conflict traces all the way back to 1994 at the start of the genocide in neighboring country Rwanda. Hutu extremists killed nearly 1 million Rwandans during this time period, leading to many Rwandans seeking refuge in Congo. Those who were able to escape the next couple of years happened to include the very extremists who ignited the genocide, sparking the development of new extremist groups in Congo beginning decades of terror and conflict in the region.

For the next decade, conflicts between Rwanda and the DRC were frequent. Most clashes between the two countries was due to the lingering presence of the Hutu peoples on the eastern border of the DRC. The goal for DRC was to maintain an established distance from the Hutu people in the Eastern front while strengthening its own military forces. This continued until 2002, when a major shift occurred in the region.

From 2002 to 2003, Rwanda and Congo began talks for a potential peace agreement between the two countries. Following these efforts were also the establishment of truth commissions and UN peacekeeping forces. Yet, during this time, a major rebel group was also slowly emerging: M23. And it is because of M23 that these peacekeeping efforts were unsuccessful.

M23 was created to better enforce the deals made in previous poorly implemented peace agreements, aiming to defend the rights and interests of minority groups in the DRC, which included the native Tutsi peoples. In addition to this, they also hoped to address the growing threat of the Hutu extremists in the eastern border of Congo.

M23’s rebel campaign was quickly extinguished by the Congolese government and its allies, however. Adding fuel to the fire, Rwanda also supported the M23 rebels militarily and monetarily, raising tensions once again between both countries. Even though the threat of conflict was removed early on, the past two decades has slowly built up to the current violence seen in the region as of recently.

In the past 20 years, the demand for the natural resources in Congo has made it a hotspot for global superpowers like the US and China. With the growth in demand for lithium and cobalt used in electronic devices and batteries, Congo has become a goldmine for countries looking for a constant source of rare natural resources. As a result, many powerful nations wanting a share of these resources have taken steps to ensure they have full access to Congo’s resources.

While they played a minimal role the past two decades, the introduction of global superpowers into the region gave militant rebel groups an incentive to respark their campaigns. Now funded by nations like China, Congolese militant groups used their newly acquired power to help protect Chinese owned mines for the natural resources in Congo. Congolese militants have also been given Chinese owned drones and arms to fight rebel groups like M23.

China’s direct involvement with Congo’s internal affairs has only pushed the conflicts in the eastern region to grow rapidly in the past couple years. It is due to the constant conflict that China and other global superpowers are able to maintain low prices to obtain valuable resources in the region, which is part of the reason for their constant involvement in Congolese affairs.

The recent escalation of violence has killed thousands and displaced nearly 7 million Congolese people in the eastern region of Congo. From the fight for natural resources to the clashes between the government and rebel groups, Congo has been hit with many deadly conflicts in the past several decades. Recently, Congolese elections determined that the incumbent president Felix Tshisekedi was reelected, causing many to hope that a de-escalation of violence will follow with the December elections completed.