It is a civil war (or rather a series of them) that has led to
the deaths of 5.4 million people since 1998. More than 2.6 million people are
displaced within the country, and after nearly two decades the conflict is
heating up, not abating. Yet the Democratic Republic of the Congo captures few
headlines and elicits only low-level diplomatic attention. In one of the
world’s only failed states,
more than 30 armed groups murder and rape thousands every year, including the
March 23 Movement (M23) that is leading the largest offensive against the
central government in Kinshasa and is widely believed to be funded and organized by the Rwandan government. The Congolese government itself knows it is involved in
a shadow war with neighboring Rwanda, and the extreme levels of sexual violence
and the exploitation of conflict minerals are its result.
As was pointed out by Jason Stearns in a recent Foreign
Affairs article,
outside observers have done little to address the conflict’s roots, instead
fueling the fires by providing “over 40 percent of the budgets of Congo and
Rwanda.” While conflicts in high-interest areas such as the Middle East (I am
of course referring to Syria) are at least paid commensurate high-level
diplomatic attention, the conflict in the DRC is swept under the rug and
ignored to the degree possible by the international community. This isn’t the
first time since 1998 that the rest of the world’s response – or rather lack
thereof – has failed the DRC. It should thus come as no surprise to anyone that
one of the world’s oldest civil wars has not been halted by multiple peace
agreements and elections of 2006.
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| An M23 rebel displays his munitions. Reuters. |
