The Democratic Republic of Congo, where a flare up of violence forced more than 70,000 people to leave their homes last week alone, is a “textbook example of neglect”, aid groups have warned.
According to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the DRC is facing “one of the worst humanitarian crises of this century”, as a myriad of armed groups wreak havoc in the country's lawless eastern provinces.
But the NRC warned that all ten of the world’s most neglected displacement crises due to largely undocumented conflicts are, for the first time, in Africa. Others include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, South Sudan, Chad, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, Burundi, and Ethiopia.
“That the world’s most neglected crises are all in Africa points to the chronic failure of decision makers, donors and the media to address conflict and human suffering on this continent,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the NRC.
“With the all-absorbing war in Europe’s Ukraine, I fear African suffering will be pushed further into the shadows.”
The report also warned that hunger levels have surged in most of the countries on the list, as rising wheat and fuel prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increase the likelihood of food insecurity.
Despite “millions of people suffering in silence”, several donor countries are deciding or considering to cut back aid to Africa and to redirect funding towards Ukraine, the report said.
On the brink of war
In the DRC, 19.6m people were in need of humanitarian assistance last year and 5.5m are displaced, yet appeals to improve the situation have largely fallen on deaf ears. The total funding to the DRC humanitarian response plan was $876m in 2021, of the $1.98 billion requested.
In comparison, the Ukraine humanitarian appeal launched on March 1 was almost fully funded the very same day.
The report comes as the security situation in the DRC deteriorates rapidly. The country finds itself on the brink of a war with neighbouring Rwanda amid the resurgence of a notorious rebel group in eastern DRC.
The M23 rebel group has launched a series of devastating attacks in North Kivu province since last year, forcing more than 72,000 people to flee last week. The group was originally formed by members of a Rwanda-backed Tutsi ethnic militia, operating in eastern DRCin the aftermath of Rwanda’s genocide.
The fighters claim that the Congolese government discriminates against Tutsis and it has denied their request for positions and salaries in the national army. In 2012, the M23 took control of the provincial capital of Goma until UN and Congolese forces forced the fighters to flee the country and sign a peace deal.
Congolese authorities have accused Rwanda of backing the insurgent group, as tensions between the two neighbours threaten to spill over into open warfare.
On Tuesday, Rwanda said it will retaliate against any further attacks launched from Congolese soil after claiming that DR Congo troops had fired rockets into its territory last week.
African Union chair Macky Sall said that he is “gravely concerned about the rise in tension” and called for “calm and dialogue”.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross announced this week that least 27 civilians have been killed by members of a notorious rebel group – the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – in the region in an attack on Sunday.
Described by Islamic State as its local affiliate, the ADF has been accused of killing thousands of civilians in DRC’s troubled east.
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