East African leaders call for ceasefire in DRC; humanitarian crisis worsens
East African Community leaders on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where government forces are fighting rebel group M23, while aid agencies say the clashes are deepening the already dire humanitarian crisis there.
Kenyan President William Ruto led an online meeting for seven of eight of the trade bloc's heads of state. The only member not participating was Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.
In a statement afterward, the leaders called on the warring parties to cease hostilities in eastern Congo and facilitate humanitarian access to the affected areas.
The summit also asked the DRC government to protect diplomatic missions in the country, following attacks this week by protesters in the capital, Kinshasa, targeting embassies of several countries presumed to be sympathetic to the M23 rebel group.
The Congolese government has accused Rwanda of supporting M23, which this week took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Witnesses reported seeing bodies in the streets, but local officials have not determined a death toll.
The Congolese government said it is fighting to push out the rebels from the city of 2 million.
Edgar Githua, an international relations analyst in Nairobi, said animosity between Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame could derail any ceasefire talks.
'There's still a lot of bad blood between DRC and Rwanda on how to approach this issue because DRC believes that these are Rwandese, and Kagame categorically keeps on saying M23 are not Rwandese, these are ethnic Tutsis who are Congolese by citizenship,' Githua said. 'It is only that they share a language with Rwanda. So, this issue of identity is what is ailing this conflict and needs to be addressed deeply.'
Meanwhile, aid agencies say these latest clashes have made the dire humanitarian crisis in DRC even worse, as thousands of Goma residents, many of whom were already displaced due to earlier conflict, are forced to flee again.
Maina King'ori, the acting country director for CARE International in DRC, told VOA from Goma, 'There's been no electricity supply for the last several days in most parts of Goma. The water system is not functioning; it has been shut down, though slowly coming back in some places, and there has been no internet connectivity in Goma for the last three days. This makes living really difficult.'
King'ori urged parties to the conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law and protect civilians.
'Civilians cannot be a target,' he said. 'Civilians are not party to this conflict, yet they're having to bear the immense load. … They're the ones that are having to feel the pain of sleeping outside, of being relocated several times, of losing loved ones.'
Democratic Republic of Congo is grappling with a decadeslong crisis that humanitarian agencies say has left over 6 million people displaced, with recent hostilities exacerbating their plight.
North Kivu, where Goma is located, hosts over 2.7 million internally displaced people, according to CARE International.
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