Over 7000 people have been killed since January this year in the conflict that's ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kadambari Raghukumar talks about the impact of the war with Congolese with family members in the east of the country.
Congoloese diaspora in Auckland gathered at a rally last month to bring attention to ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where since January this year alone, nearly 7000 people have been killed.
About the size of Western Europe, Democratic Republic of Congo – the DRC - has almost 72 % of the world’s coltan resources and a wealth of other mineral resources from gold to zinc.
Vying for control over the east’s vast mineral reserves are more than 100 armed groups.
Precious untapped minerals in Congolese soil have globalized impact of the conflict. Several multinational corporations are vested in the resources while Congolese minerals are an inextricable part of our own everyday lives from phones, batteries, electric cars.
For the past 30 years, DRC has been racked by multiple conflicts that have been called the First and Second Congo Wars that took seed in 1996 contested between ethnic and militant groups on the frontiers with Rwanda and Uganda, and the protracted Kivu conflict in the east, that’s now intensified.
Amongst all the armed groups fighting in the region, the most prominent is the M23 – whom the UN as well as the US and several other countries allege are backed by Rwanda – is violently taking control of the resource-rich territory, Kivu. It's a region nearly five times the size of Rwanda.
M23 are mostly led by ethnic Tutsis, who say they needed to take up arms to protect the rights of the minority group in the east of DRC.
Rwanda rejects allegations that it supports the group with arms and funding.
In this episode of Here Now, Kadambari Raghukumar talks to Congolese in Auckland on how the ongoing conflict in their homeland is affecting them.
The conversation features Redoland Tsounga, Eddy Mokonzi and Nyota.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
