What is happening in DRC Congo?

Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I have posted another blog. I took another break but this time it was deliberate. I have began my final year of my law degree. It has been a lot of work but I am honestly enjoying it and thank God we are here. My final year university has flown by with so many experiences and lessons learnt, but that is a conversation for another day. Today I wanted to talk about the Democratic Republic of Congo and what has going on there. The mainstream media have relatively mute on the subject this which is no surprise and that is something that I will address into later in the blog. The aim of today’s blog is to shed some light on what is happening in Congo, why it is happening, my perspective and what we can do. I have tried to keep it minimal even though I have a lot to say.

Since 1996-present, DRC Congo have been facing political instability which has resulted in a horrific conflict where millions of people have been killed and forced to flee their homes. So how did this start ?

The Democratic Republic of Congo experienced its first war in 1996, as a  direct result of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Rwanda and Uganda invaded eastern DRC in an attempt to find the surviving perpetrators of the genoocide , resulting in the deaths of millions. Laurent Désiré Kaliba, the Congolese leader at the time was in opposition to the Uganda and Rwandan militaries who decided to become an allies at the time of the invasion.

As a result of years of conflict, many Congolese families have been forced to flee their homes. Children can no longer access medical care and education. Recently, this year, 176 people were killed in Easter DRC in May due to flash floods. Violence, hunger and disease are rampant across the Democratic Republic of Congo and something has to be done.

It is rather upsetting, but not surprising, that nothing has been done to raise awareness of the situation in Congo, and I am referring to major media (BBC, ITV, Fox News, ABC News, and so on). It is interesting because many of these organisations are run by white nationalists, which fits in well with the concept of media consumption.

People must be cautious about the media they consume since their goal is to control your political beliefs, morality, and perspectives. If you are compassionate and constantly consume media about issues involving white or Asian people, you would naturally have empathy and want to do something about it, but if you are a black person consuming white media, your compassion is subconsciously directed towards white/Asian people rather than your own, which is what they want, especially when everyone around you is talking about it because of how popular it is. They want to be able to control your perspective. Now, I am not arguing that we should disregard different races since a human is a human. A human is not defined by age, skin colour, or religion. Yet, my people come first, and I want to help my people and be educated in order to see how I can be of help.  This is my own opinion on the mainstream media and why they do not cover topics concerning Africa and the black population as breaking news. It's important to go out there and educate yourself.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights talks about how everyone has the right to education, more specifically Article 28 of the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on Rights of a Child) specifically talks about children should not be denied access to education no matter who they are, regardless of race, gender, disability, if they are a refugee etc) so why hasn’t something been done? Why can’t we bring families together to get back on their feet and maybe start a new life (which is difficult) somewhere else knowing they are safe and have access to all the things they need?

The few things that has been done is Congo gaining military support from neighbouring countries such as Angola and Zimbabwe, as well as the UN sustainable development group that are providing humanitarian assistance to the most needy and this is aid to a country that produces minerals that allow all our electronic to function.

My thoughts and prayers go out to DRC Congo, anyone who is Congolese who has family in Congo that is being affected by the ongoing crisis. I hope as a society we can learn to help and support one another instead of competing and taking from each other.

Article 1 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”