Humanitarian Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vast amounts of natural resources such as diamonds, cooper, and crude oil. The resources that should be able to keep them economically stable instead turned the country into a battleground.

The DRC has experience conflict since the 1960s after independence. By1965 Joseph Mobutu had taken power and renamed the country Zaire. The United States took interest in backing him in operations against Zaire’s neighbor, Soviet-supported Angola. However, when the Cold war was over, the US lost interest in their support for the country as well.

In 1997 Rwanda invaded Zaire to remove the Hutu militias that had fled after the genocide in 1994. This gave the anti-Mobutu militias the opportunity to take the capital. President Laurent Kabila replaced Mobutu and the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the DRC continued to be the battleground for what is now known as one of the worst humanitarian crisis’ the world has seen.

The five-year war was sparked after there were attacks on Kabila by rebel forces from Rwanda and Uganda. When neighboring Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe came to the aid of the DRC the battle erupted. Death tolls from fighting and disease are estimated at as many as 4 million people.

Although there was a peace deal in 2003, there is always a looming threat of another civil war. Tension remains high because the government has little control over the vast amounts of land in the country.

Additional Reading:

Human Rights Watch

Country Profile

Africa's First World War

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