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News Reporter Kelly Smyth reports on the advancement M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Irish Congolese community protest in response.
Rwandan-backed M23 troops in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to advance as major cities of Goma and Bukavu were captured in January and February respectively.
The region has been prone to conflict since the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, with the east of DRC sharing a border with Rwanda. Motivations for the fighting include mineral rich land and ethnic tension due to the 1994 Genocide in which approximately 800,000 people were killed. The majority of victims were from the Tutsi community.
The conflict entered a new phase following a coup in Goma in late January, a trading city home to over 1 million Congolese citizens. The coup coincided with a jailbreak in Munzenze prison which resulted in the rapes and killings of hundreds of female inmates by male inmates amid the chaos.
It is unclear who perpetrated the violence in the prison due to M23 restrictions on investigation by the United Nations. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern that sexual violence may be used as a weapon of conflict following this event.
Catherine Russell, director of UNICEF, expressed concern that children in east DRC are also at risk: “Amid the chaos, hundreds of children have been separated from their families, exposing them to heightened risks of abduction, recruitment and use by armed groups, and sexual violence.”
This statement comes as M23 troops advance into regional capital Bukavu, where the UN criticised the militant group for looting humanitarian aid and the killing of children.
In response to the capture of Goma, Miss Congo Eireann organised a protest in solidarity with the victims, which took place in Cork City on February 15. Benedicte, a Congolese woman and contestant for the Miss Congo Eireann pageant, had the following to say when speaking to the University Observer: “The situation in Congo is extremely dire, with millions of people internally displaced due to this genocide backed by Rwanda. My heart breaks for my people. Standing alongside others at the protest in Cork was a deeply moving moment of solidarity. The world cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this crisis”.
A demonstration has been scheduled to take place in Dublin on Saturday 8 March, International Women’s Day. Humanitarian concern continues as over 6 million people have been left displaced due to the conflict.