RDC : vivre sous le M23
Paloma Laudet
For over thirty years, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – more than 2000 kilometers from the capital Kinshasa – has been ravaged by a conflict that has its roots in the Rwandan genocide. Since 2021, this conflict has intensified, reaching a critical point on January 27 this year, when the armed group, M23 (Mouvement du 23 mars), took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu. The city, with a population of two million, was the scene of violent clashes between M23 and the Congolese army. According to the UN, M23 was supported by neighboring Rwanda, who sent 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers, while the Congolese army had the support of militias and mercenaries. Consolidating its control over North Kivu, M23 continued to advance southward, capturing Bukavu on February 16, 2025. Since then, it has continued to extend its control further.
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According to the UN, 3,000 people were killed and hundreds injured in the fighting that took place in urban areas, including in IDP camps, leaving hospitals overwhelmed. Since 2021, over a million people had fled the fighting in Goma and had gathered in IDP camps on the outskirts of the city. Claiming that they had restored security in the territories they occupied, M23 ordered the camps to be dismantled within 72 hours, causing great distress. For many, returning to their homes was impossible, so they had to hide in host families, schools and parishes. For those who were able to go home, they found devastation, their houses often having been destroyed or looted. The conflict also brought economic activity to a sudden halt, which was extremely difficult for the population who are dependent on a subsistence economy. The fighting to take control of the city increased insecurity and fear. Bodies were regularly found in the streets, victims of mob justice or revenge killings. The number of cases of sexual violence exploded, committed both by the Congolese army and the M23 rebels.
M23, supported by Rwanda, has set up a new administration in the territories it occupies, thus separating these from the rest of DRC. According to the UN, M23 has committed numerous human rights violations: summary executions, the recruitment of child soldiers, and sexual violence. Despite this, part of the population still hopes that there will be change. For years, they were abandoned by a corrupt and ineffective government who left the territory to fend for itself.
In a region where violence has been handed down from generation to generation for more than thirty years, civilians long for peace. The capture of Goma and Bukavu by M23, with its wave of violence, has brought uncertainty to the entire region.
In the words of 21-year-old Sifa, who has just had a baby boy in Goma: “I called my son ‘War’, because that’s all I’ve ever known.”
Paloma Laudet
