The conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo have ranged over plenty of types, as well as a variety of reasons behind these conflicts - the overall situation in Congo has even spanned war across 7 nations. Ever since the war had begun in 1998 (and has long since ended in 2003), Congo has gotten a title for the one of most deadliest conflicts since World War II as over 5 million people have died since then and 45,000 more people continue to die each month. It has come to my understanding that it is vital for justice to be taken against the corruption and conflict in Congo, as the many conflicts occurring have caused distress amongst the people of Congo and officials (of the UN and Congo), which is evident due to the reactions and attempts of justice towards the recent events of; the M23 rebel attacks, the levels of internally displaced persons and the overall humanitarian situation remains worrying.
Generally, rebels in Congo have been at it for quite a while, yet there has been enough conflict with the rebels in Congo to know that they need to go. The specific group of rebels I’m talking of currently are the M23 rebel fighters - an armed group who have been at work as of April 2012. ‘M23 fighters – a rebel group composed of soldiers who mutinied from the DRC national army in April – occupied Goma, the capital of North Kivu, on Tuesday after launching a new wave of attacks last weekend. Fighting has continued and the rebels are now said to have reached the town of Sake.” UN: Call on M23 Rebels. The M23 fighters, as said, have been rampaging through Goma, but according to the evidence they have been slowly expanding to more territories, moving on to disturb more of Congo. The more disturbance caused, all the more reason for the rebels to be stopped. Not only have the M23 rebels rampaged in Goma, and prepared to expand their disturbances into Sake, their actions played a vital part in their role as rebels. Not only have the M23 fighters been rampaging through towns, mainly Goma at the time, they have been using their arms and going into more physical ways to push their boundaries in disturbing the country and its civilians. The M23 have been responsible for numerous accounts of rape, unlawful killing and forced recruitments. “The advance of the M23 has uprooted some 60,0000 civilians and fuelled numerous allegations of human rights abuses by both the rebels and the national army.” UN: Call on M23 Rebels. All the evidence definitely finalizes the need for the M23 rebel fighter situation to be stopped, as having the M23 fighters rampage through Congo and physically abuse the civilians is more than enough to have many fight for justice against this situation of rebels. Yet, though this situation is of rebels disturbing the people, IDPs (internally displaced persons) are the people playing victim to the M23 rebel situation.
The situation of the internally displaced persons is at the point that not all of the IDPs will be able to receive help or all their basic needs, and when not all of the IDPs can get even the basics, this is where we have to put our foot down and do something against whatever has risen the number of the internally displaced. As the rebels march on through Congo, more people are fleeing their homes only to become internally displaced persons (IDPs.) “The advance of the M23 has uprooted more than 140,000 civilians, Mr. Edwards said. Many have settled in the city of Goma in spontaneous sites and the Mugunga 3 camp and are living in precarious conditions. Many IDPs need shelter and clean water. Sanitary conditions remain a major challenge due to the lack of toilets and water supply points. Some cases of vomiting, diarrhoea and respiratory infections have already been recorded. These respiratory infections are due to the fact that these people have no shelter and are sleeping in the open under the rains.”Working Around the Clock: Internally Displaced Persons. The fact that the IDPs are already in such a bad condition is basically a plea on how much a conflict like this deserves justice, the IDPs deserve justice so that they can live better. For them, justice would be getting rid of the M23 so that all IDPs could live with more ease and most could return back to their homes. Though, most of the IDPs that left their homes due to the M23 rebels actually intend to return back to their home, their IDP status won’t be staying for long. There are some things they will have to settle to live (such as food, crops and health) when they reach their homes again but the officials have intentions of helping the Congolese people with those issues. “Many of the displaced are telling us they intend returning soon to their home areas, and for this reason the initial aid deliveries are three-day rations only. Further assistance is being planned for areas of return,” he said.
...WFP also warned that most IDPs will still require food assistance once they return to their homes, as many left their fields unattended...” Working Around the Clock: Internally Displaced Persons. With many of the internally displaced persons returning back to their homes and continuing their lives, there will be less mouths to feed under WFP’s and UN’s responsibility, making the conflict of a smaller degree as it’s not as many IDPs to deal with (it was 140,000 to begin with.) Yet, if the M23 had not intercepted Congo at all, the IDPs who fled from the rebels would not have been IDPs recently and this bigger conflict of having to feed more mouths that couldn’t completely be handled by the WFP/UN would have never happened either. This situation of having too many IDPs to feed all of them comfortably under the WFP/UN protection, could have actually been avoided if the M23 had not came in and rampaged. Yet, the main point is that this situation had actually been fought for, and the IDPs are still receiving food and whatever basic necessities they can have. Though, the overall humanitarian situation in Congo is still worrying, even though the recent overload of internally displaced persons situation has been settled.
Though the M23 rebel situation and the overload of IDPs situation have both been settled, the overall humanitarian situation in Congo remains worrying. With the overall situation in Congo still at danger, it is definitely the time to take a stand for justice as there is still time to cease the coming danger. Though IDPs have begun returning back to their homes, there is no way to predict their safety once reaching home. “Goma has a population of nearly 800,000 and while awaiting that the Congolese authorities regain full control over the city, one cannot exclude the risk of looting or renewed violence,” Mr. Soumare said. “I call on all parties to honour their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect all civilians.” Humanitarian Situation in Congo: Extremely Worrying. The conflict of many civilians in possible danger is on its way to receiving justice in the form of parties promising to protect the civilians, yet there are just a bit too many opportunities for rebels at the moment(not the M23) to be extremely sure of everyones’ safety. The large number of internally displaced persons actually carries on from the recent number of 140,000 of them, it has just lowered by quite a few thousands as IDPs have returned home. Though, the IDPs returning home has not done much, as the IDPs are still being supplied food and needs, and their safety is definitely not in the clear due to nearby rebels. “While many displaced persons have chosen to leave camps to return to their homes, Mr. Soumare noted that they are still in danger as brutal attacks are on the rise in other areas of North Kivu, particularly in the Masisi territory. In this context, the situation will remain volatile and hundreds of thousands of people will continue to depend on emergency aid for their survival,” he said, calling on all parties to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to people in need wherever they are to ensure the protection of displaced and host communities.” Humanitarian Situation in Congo: Extremely Worrying. Although some of the displaced persons have solved part of their problem of where to live, their vulnerability to the rebel attacks continue to be their bigger conflict. With distress and anxiety among everybody (Congolese and officials), it has only become vital to fight for justice on this conflict. The overall humanitarian situation in Congo remains to be a struggle and quite the worry, though that makes it all the more important to fight for justice against this humanitarian conflict. Actually, I’ve made the point clear that it’s important to fight for justice against any corruption or conflict (specifically in Congo, of course.)
As I said before, fighting for justice against corruption in Congo is vital, as levels of corruption and conflict have been high and occurring for quite awhile such as; the M23 rebels, the large amount of IDPs and overall humanitarian situation worries. Like how all of this in Congo has come to my attention, I would like you to open your mind to the situation in Congo, and that the same message reaches the people around you. Though there are plenty of officials working under the situation in Congo, there aren’t too many people like you and I that are aware of these situations - and if we can’t do much, at least we can spread the word.
