Situation report from Goma (Eastern Congo)

pk. As a supplement to the article on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Congo (Current Concerns No 4 of 27 February 2024), on which the Western media world is adamantly silent, we have received the letter published here. It is a situation report from a priest who has fled to Goma in the face of constant terror in the neighbouring villages by mercenaries of the “M23” [a Congolese rebel military group that is for the most part formed of ethnic Tutsi; the editors] and related groups. The improvised refugee camps there are now once again overcrowded. The city can offer neither them nor its population nor those in the sparse tent camps in the region any real protection against the existing siege ring, nor can the Congolese national army. The international protection forces, such as the UN mission, which has been passive for decades, as well as an East African international military support detachment for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have been sent home by the Congolese government without any results, while many are pinning their hopes on a support force from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), but not the submitter of the following letter.

At the moment I am on the outskirts of Goma. Countless bombs are being fired from there day and night into the Masisi area. All communication has broken down in the region, we don’t know how our people are doing there. The president’s [Tshisekedi’s] option is war and not dialogue (but even “dialogue” is by no means seen as a miracle solution by the people, they know why ...). There are now many soldiers with heavy weapons in Goma again. The remaining aid organisations have long been sounding the alarm, as a food crisis is imminent because there is no longer any access for aid supplies. This particularly affects the refugee camps on the Bweremana-Minova axis and along the road between Kiloliw, Kichanga and Mweso, where thousands of internally displaced people have gathered as they flee the fierce fighting between FARCD [Congolese National Army] troops and the M23 militias attacking them. All schools have been closed since November. Unnoticed, another “small” genocide is taking place, in this case against the intellectual capacity of our populations. It is significant that the paralysis of life as a result of the general insecurity is mainly directed towards areas predominantly inhabited by the Hutu ethnic group. This paralysis of life as a whole also has an impact on current events at the political level. As a result, the population of the areas occupied by the invaders will not be represented in parliament. [The territories have been closed by the government for all electoral activities.] Is this the realisation of the piecemeal balkanisation of eastern Congo, an idea or rather a plan that benefits those who keep the war going? Can it end with the arrival of the SADC troops, who are now supposed to support the FARCD? On the other hand, there are the “godfathers” Uganda and Rwanda, visible to all. They are supporting what they call “rebel groups” by sending more armed elements to eastern Congo. The future is bleak and the difficulties are increasing every day.

Abbé QRS, Goma, end of January 2024
(name and identity known to the editors,
translation by Current Concerns)