The American president has declared peace but violence and greed still prevail in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The civilian population continues to pay the price for conflicting geopolitical interests. Despite the precarious security situation, Switzerland has stepped up its humanitarian aid. “Bombs are still falling, and we don’t know who is behind them,” Furaha Jumapili, who fled her home, told French television France 24 on December 5 – just one day after Rwanda and the DRC signed a peace agreement in Washington. The bombings have triggered a mass exodus. Tens of thousands of people have fled, many to neighbouring countries. These include Rwanda, as reported by local authorities in Kamaniola, a border town in the Walungu area of eastern DRC’s South Kivu province. Peace only on paper This is one more chapter in a conflict between rebels and government troops that has been dragging on since 1998. In January 2025, the situation escalated again when the ...
