Kivu Conflict

Intro.

It’s war time in Kivu. In spite of the United Nation’s mission (MONUC) that tries to put an end to the mess in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an other conflict has occurred in the heart of the African continent. In the Kivu region thousands of people have been killed and millions of others removed from their birthplace by the trouble that has taken control over the kivu region since the burst of violence in 1994.

About Congo.

Congo has been a Belgian colony for more than 50 years, that’s why their official language is French. Their main religion is Catholicism. Their president is Joseph Kabila.

They have a lot of rainforests which contain great biodiversity and they have a lot of natural resources like coltan and diamonds.

What are the different actors of the conflict?

- First, there is the FADRC, which is the army of the state. They want peace and safety in Congo so the country can develop. They are responsible for defending the DRC but their army is very disorganised so they aren’t very successful.

- Then, there is the FDLR “Democratic forces for the liberation of Rwanda”. They are Hutu rebels who still hate Tutsi’s due to the conflict which took place in Rwanda. They now fight the Tutsi’s in Congo to stop their influence in the country. To get stronger, they have joined the government to fight the CNDP.

- The CNDP is a rebel group, led by Laurent Nkunda. They are mainly Tutsi’s who fight to protect themselves. Laurent Nkunda wants to protect the Tutsi’s but he also hopes to get involved in politics, and maybe rule Congo one day. Nkunda is suspected to have child soldiers in his army, although he denies it.

- Then there are the Maï-Maï militias. They want to defend their local communities and are very racist. They don’t want any foreigners in their country, and especially hate Rwandan Tutsi’s.

- The United Nations is the last actor, they want to pacify Kivu and try to disarm the FDLR, CNDP and Maï-Maï but they are not efficient. Personally I think UN forces are there not only to "protect" kick civilians but also to acquire a certain power over resources trade . It could be more a financial objective than a political one .

What are the causes of the conflict?

- Rwanda is located next to Congo, so there are a lot of Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi refugees in Congo. That’s how their conflict spread to Congo.

- Another cause of the Conflict is the natural resources Congo has. Congo is a rich country with a lot of resources. It detains 30% of the world’s diamonds, 34% of the world’s cobalt and 70% of the world’s Coltan. Those resources cause a lot of conflicts near mining areas which are very dangerous for civilians. People who work in the mines are often exploited and more than 14% of these workers are under the age of 18 . I fact, rebel groups have taken power over coltan trade and are controlling the borders . They sell the coltan ( which is use for our electronics ) and use the money they get to buy weapons . So in a way , we could be financing this war .

What are the consequences of the conflict?

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