In the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, fears of a large-scale massacre grow amid rising violence and instability. Nearly a dozen South African soldiers have died this year, and gangs are increasingly armed within the city of Goma. With over a million displaced persons living in dire conditions, and the M23 rebels advancing, the crisis intensifies. International concerns mount over a potential massacre, raising fears of a UN intervention influenced by foreign powers seeking territorial gains.
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By Chris Steyn
Fears are growing that a very large scale massacre is being planned in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where almost a dozen South African soldiers have lost their lives already this year.
Sources near the capital of Goma say the situation is “becoming worryingly insecure” as firearms are increasingly being used by gangs of thieves within Goma.
This insecurity along with the increasingly close proximity of M23 to the capital city makes for a very precarious and volatile situation where over 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are seeking safety.
The sources shared photographs of horrific conditions in the camps for IDPs where fleeing civilians are being forced to live in the most appalling conditions.
The camps have become extremely overcrowded as the violence in North Kivu has been flaring up since last year with communities caught up in the ongoing fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 group and the DRC’s national armed forces.
It is these DRC forces that are being assisted by South African, Burundian and Tanzanian armed forces in a joint military effort to rid the Great Lakes Region of the forces of terrorism that have plagued Central Africa since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
“It is our concern – and that of many people – that something is about to happen, i.e. a really big massacre,” BizNews was told.
“And a big massacre would require UN (United Nations) ‘humanitarian’ intervention which is exactly what is wanted by the foreign corporate powers that back Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
“After all, the ultimate goal is to get the boundary lines of Rwanda redrawn so that North Kivu can be annexed by Rwanda.”
In May this year, at least 18 people were killed in the bombing of IDP camps. Thirty-two displaced people were injured, 27 – mostly women and children – seriously.
An estimated 1.6 million people who lived near Rwanda and Uganda’s borders with DRC have been displaced since the resurgence of the M23 group in late 2021.
A source who visits the overcrowded camps, describes the conditions thus: “une existence horrible et le miserere extraordinaire” (a horrible existence of extraordinary misery).
“People are saying they would rather return home and be shot or macheted to death by M23 than live in these camps.
“Sexual violence is rife. Very young girls are being raped. Many are forced to prostitute themselves to get food.
“Old women are being sexually violated as well.
“Women are being murdered.
“There are huge numbers of unaccompanied children, and if unaccompanied children are not registered, they do not receive food. There are chronic levels of malnutrition in the children.
“People are going two to three days without food. And there is no healthcare at all.”
In the midst of this humanitarian catastrophe, there is outrage among Congolese that the war is being fuelled by Rwanda’s backing of M23, something it still denies but that the world is increasingly coming to view as a strategy to continue securing illicitly-traded coltan, cobalt and other strategic minerals from war-ravaged DRC.
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