While the world remains fixated on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, another deadly conflict is raging in Central Africa, largely unnoticed. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the M23 rebel group, reportedly backed by Rwanda, has intensified its campaign in the country’s east, capturing territory, displacing over a million people, and triggering a massive humanitarian crisis.
On February 14, M23 captured Bukavu, a strategic city in South Kivu province. The Congolese military fled in chaos, leaving behind civilians who are now living in fear and hunger. Two weeks later, explosions rocked an M23 rally in the same city, killing and injuring several. The rebels accused the Congolese government of orchestrating the attack. The violence continues to spread, and in Goma—one of the last major government strongholds—the situation is deteriorating fast. The Bulengo displacement camp, now home to over 700,000 civilians, is overwhelmed and running out of basic supplies.
While Ukraine and Gaza dominate headlines, the war in Congo barely registers in international discourse. Despite the staggering scale of the crisis, global leaders have offered little more than token gestures. Billions in aid flow to other conflicts, while the people of Congo are left to suffer in silence.
Why is the World ignoring Congo?
The answer may lie in uncomfortable truths about whose suffering matters most on the global stage. The Congo crisis lacks the geopolitical pull of a U.S.-Russia standoff or a Middle East flashpoint. As a result, it gets no prime-time coverage, no urgent UN Security Council resolutions, and very little financial aid.
Yet the numbers are sobering. According to the UN, over 1.2 million people have been displaced in the first three months of 2025 alone. Thousands have been killed. Eastern Congo has long been a battleground for rebel groups fighting over power and control of the region’s vast mineral wealth—gold, coltan, cobalt—that powers smartphones and electric cars around the world.
M23 is just the latest in a series of rebel groups backed by Rwanda vying for control of this resource-rich region. The group had gone dormant after a peace deal in 2013, but re-emerged in late 2021 and has since grown in strength and reach. Kigali denies supporting the rebels, but the UN and several Western governments have accused Rwanda of providing arms, troops, and strategic support to M23.
Rwanda’s Regional Ambitions
This isn’t just a case of cross-border interference—it’s a long-standing territorial and political ambition. Rwanda’s military first invaded what was then Zaire in 1996, toppling dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. At the time, Rwandan officials reportedly presented a map showing Rwanda as a country 50 percent larger than its actual size—stretching deep into eastern Congo.
Today, some Rwandan political voices talk about eastern Congo as a buffer zone that should remain under Kigali’s influence. Others have suggested a so-called “Kurdistan model,” where a rebel group like M23 controls territory semi-independently—similar to how the Kurdish Regional Government operates in northern Iraq.
But Congo is not a failed state—it is a sovereign nation, albeit a fragile one. And the people of eastern Congo are not pawns in a geopolitical chess game. They are parents, farmers, students—ordinary people caught between a government too weak to protect them and a foreign-backed militia determined to dominate their land.
Humanitarian Disaster in the Making
The toll on civilians is heartbreaking. At camps like Bulengo near Goma, families live packed into makeshift shelters with no clean water, no toilets, and no food. Schools have been turned into overcrowded housing. Diseases are spreading. Children are malnourished.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, recently visited Goma and described the conditions as “subhuman.” He accused global leaders of turning a blind eye, stating bluntly: “The level of neglect experienced by civilians in eastern DRC should shame the world.” (Source)
While the European Union recently pledged €40 million in emergency aid, humanitarian agencies on the ground say it’s far from enough. Many of their programs remain severely underfunded.
Are Peace Talks Making a Difference?
There have been some signs of diplomacy. On April 5, the Congolese government and M23 representatives met in Doha, Qatar, for the first round of direct peace talks since the latest fighting erupted. Another round is scheduled for April 9. As a show of good faith, M23 withdrew from Walikale, a key mining town connecting four provinces. But trust is in short supply.
The Congolese government accuses M23 of continuing to launch attacks despite the negotiations. The rebels say they are willing to negotiate, but warn that any “provocations” could derail the peace process. Regional actors, including Rwanda and Uganda, remain deeply entangled—both militarily and economically.
Profiting from the Chaos
The war isn’t just about territory, it’s about money. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that Rwanda and Uganda are smuggling billions of dollars’ worth of gold and other minerals from eastern Congo, even as the region descends into chaos. Rwanda earned $1.1 billion in mineral exports last year. Uganda exported $3.4 billion in gold—its top commodity, despite having few domestic reserves.
This kind of plunder not only fuels the conflict—it prolongs it. As long as there is profit to be made, regional actors have little incentive to seek lasting peace.
A Crisis Demanding Global Attention
The DRC’s crisis is not new. It’s part of a tragic pattern of violence, exploitation, and global neglect that has plagued the region for decades. But 2025 could mark a turning point—if the international community decides to act.
That means more than just aid. It means holding Rwanda accountable for its role in the conflict. It means supporting peace negotiations with real political will. And it means recognizing the people of eastern Congo not as victims to pity, but as citizens who deserve peace, dignity, and a future.
Akshit Tyagi has worked full-time as a business and financial journalist in India for Republic TV, and has worked part-time for other esteemed news media organisations, including India Today, India’s leading English news media company. He has written for The Canberra Times, Independent Australia and The Australia Today, and holds a Master of International Relations from ANU, Canberra.
It used to be said in the nineties that Afrca would sorted if Sudan the Arab/ black African confluece was resolved which never was.But African international relations have gotten much worse than one would image