Lee steps up resources diplomacy in Congo*

[bluesky79]

A day after rejoicing over Pyeongchang's successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in Durban, South Africa President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Democratic Republic of the Congo for a two-day visit on Thursday afternoon.

Lee and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila discussed ways to boost cooperative ties in infrastructure, resources development and agricultural collaboration.

Resource-rich Congo has been going through a slow process of political stabilization since the end of a civil war in 2003 and is waiting for foreign investors.

The leaders agreed to combine Korea's technological and development experience with Congo's abundant natural resources to help rehabilitate the African nation. They pledged to work together in building water purification plants and sea ports as well as developing mineral resources like copper.

The two countries also signed a series of agreements on infrastructure construction and joint oil exploration.

 

[waltky]

Refugees flee rebels in the Congo...

Thousands of Congolese Flee to Uganda after Rebel Attack
July 14, 2013 > The Ugandan Red Cross says up to 55,000 refugees from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have fled to Uganda after a rebel group attacked a town along the countries' shared border.

The fighting scattered people in town of Kamongo located in Congo's North Kivu province.

Red Cross officials says refugees have entered into Uganda through the country's western Bundibugyo district finding temporary shelter at schools in the area.

Refugees from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) wait at the Busunga border in western Uganda

Rebels from the Ugandan-led Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked the Congolese town on Thursday causing an unknown number of casualties.

The group was formed in the mid 1990s and has been hiding in the mountains of eastern Congo for years after being ousted by the Uganda government forces.

Thousands of Congolese Flee to Uganda after Rebel Attack

 

[waltky]

Kerry gonna stop the war in the Congo...

Kerry Seeks End to Military Support for Congo Rebels
July 25, 2013 — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called on all parties to end their support for armed rebel groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Secretary Kerry made the call at his United Nations debut as the top U.S. diplomat Thursday, chairing a high-level U.N. Security Council session on the Great Lakes region and the DRC. He told the meeting that he is deeply concerned about recent reports of resumed external support to the M23 rebel group, and reports of collaboration with the Rwandan Hutu rebel group in the eastern DRC, known as the FDLR. “I want to be emphatic here today: all parties must immediately end their support for armed rebel groups," he said. "All governments must hold human rights violators and abusers accountable. We must end the era of impunity.”

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch issued a report saying Rwanda has provided ammunition, food, and training to M23 rebels and allowed its leaders to recruit inside Rwanda, including among demobilized Rwandan soldiers. Meanwhile, Rwanda accused U.N. peacekeepers of backing alleged collaboration between the DRC army and the FDLR. While Kerry did not directly name Rwanda, he urged regional actors to exercise restraint and return to a constructive path, moving forward to address the root causes of regional conflict and permanently resolve it.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern about recent fighting and called on the signatories to February's Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework to work positively with each other in order to endorse the document this September on the margins of the annual General Assembly debate. Ban urged countries to support this goal through all the means available, including sanctions for spoilers. “I call on the international community to use all tools from international criminal prosecution to sanctions regimes to development assistance,” he said.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo appeared to ignore allegations that her government supports armed groups in the eastern DRC. She said Rwanda is “eager” to do its part to help implement the Framework agreement, and noted Rwanda's cooperation in helping facilitate the handover of wanted warlord Bosco Ntaganda to the International Criminal Court when he surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali in March. In an effort to stem the violence, the United Nations recently added a robust specialized force to its already huge peacekeeping mission in the eastern Congo. The so-called intervention brigade is tasked with neutralizing armed groups. The U.N. will also soon start using unarmed drones to monitor the DRC's lengthy eastern border. On the development side, the World Bank has pledged $1 billion to enhance infrastructure and encourage trade.

Kerry Seeks End to Military Support for Congo Rebels

 

[waltky]

60k displaced in Congo violence...

Ethnic Violence in Congo's Northeast Displaces 60,000
March 18, 2018 — The assailants attacked under cover of darkness, slaughtering Nguli Nzafi 's wife and three children with machetes and arrows.

The 71-year-old, who also lost all 40 of his cattle in the violence, was forced to flee on foot some 90 kilometers (56 miles) to safety in the town of Bunia. "I have lost everything because I no longer have my wife nor my children," he says. "I cannot eat nor sleep. I'm afraid that this fighting is as bad as the war in 1996-2002." Violence between Nzafi's Hema community and the Lendu ethnic group in Congo's northeast has now killed at least 150 people and has forced more than 32,000 people to flee to Bunia, where humanitarian assistance is strained and the suffering are eager for improved conditions. Another 28,000 have also fled into Uganda, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

There is a long history of tensions between the Lendu and Hema groups, whose ongoing battles since 1999 already have killed thousands and led the U.N. to deploy a peacekeeping force in the area. Much of it is rooted in economic tensions over land, as the Lendu historically have been farmers on stationery plots of land while the Hema have raised animals and moved throughout the year to good grazing areas. Once those disputes erupted into violence, the cycle of tit-for-tat attacks caused a mounting death toll. The instability here in Ituri province presents yet another challenge for the Congolese military and U.N. peacekeeping force who are already grappling with the threats posed by rebel groups, and with ongoing unrest in the Kasai provinces.

Nguli Nzafi who lost his wife and three children following attacks by assailants, stands with others at a camp for displace people in Bunia, Eastern Congo​

The latest round of fighting began in December, Djugu deputy administrator Willy Maese told The Associated Press. "The Lendu had asked the Hema to give them part of their crops. Following their refusals, the Lendu launched attacks directly on the Hemas," he said. Despite a reprieve when authorities came, fighting intensified in February leading to a wave of displacements, he said. Kpadyu Londri, a 26-year-old from Djugu, said the Lendu came to steal cows and ravage fields. They killed his five brothers and a woman, he said. He has found safety in Bunia, 75 kilometers (47 miles) from his home village, but he said conditions are bad. "There are no tents so the rain falls on us, no beds, blankets ... we have already lost seven displaced [people], who have died as a result of starvation and dirty hands disease," he said, referring to outbreaks of cholera.

Beatrice Ngave, 23, lost her daughter to malaria. She called on international organizations to build more latrines and accommodations to prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases. Right now, she said, the camp has only two latrines. Last week, youths in Bunia invaded the office of the governor of the Ituri province, with sticks and machetes, demanding the government to take action, said youth leader Joseph Tibasima. Celestin Tawara Angaika, the president of the Lendu community in Bunia, last week asked the Congolese government for the protection of its members. Congo's Deputy Prime Minister of Interior Security Henri Mova Sakanyi has promised "to strengthen the presence of the Congolese army and the police" in the Djugu and Blukwa villages.

Ethnic Violence in Congo's Northeast Displaces 60,000