Written by Sixtine Berquist. Published on July 2, 2018.
This article was published in 2018, it reflects numbers and facts true at the time of publishing.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has faced decades of violence, leading to the displacement of Congolese citizens. Yet, the crisis has remained largely unnoticed by the international community as its effects remain within the African continent. The current crisis took hold in the 1990s when the DRC was internationally recognized as Zaire and governed by President Mobutu Sese Seko. As the Rwandan genocide subsided in 1994, many Rwandan refugees and Hutu militia continued to flee into Zaire. Fearing the growing Hutu power in the camps and possible retaliation on the new Tutsi stronghold, the Rwandan army attacked the refugee camps in the North and South Kivu provinces, along the eastern border.[1] Amidst this unrest, Commander Laurent-Désiré Kabila led Tutsi forces against the Hutus and used this army to overthrow President Mobutu in 1998.[2] Now known as Africa’s Great War, the five-year conflict has led to the displacement of 4.25 million people in a largely forgotten refugee crisis.[3] Read more.