Vantage | Why UN's peacekeepers are no help in Congo's worst crisis

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the second-largest country in Africa by land and home to over 110 million people. The DRC is in dire straits; conflict in the east has been claiming lives for decades, and it is reaching a boiling point. With tragic consequences, a video went viral this week. It was from a few days ago. A man reportedly set himself ablaze in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. The visuals were quite disturbing, and there has been no word of what happened to him, but why did he take this drastic step? To get the world’s attention. To show them what was happening in his country. He called it a genocide.

Since last month, violence in the east has spiked, and armed groups have been seizing land. One of these is a group called M23. Yesterday, they claimed a village called Ki Shi Shay. This same village had seen horror last year as well, at the hands of the same group: M23. This was last December. The group killed 170 people in the village and forced thousands to flee. Now, the M23 group is back. Another round of bloodshed may take place. And this is not the only armed group in the area. To the north, a different group attacked the village of Beni. A group called the ADF has pledged allegiance to ISIS. They attacked Beni village on Monday. At least 33 people were killed. The numbers continue to rise. Many people jumped into a nearby river to escape the militants. They did it to escape the brutality. The militants were hacking up people with machetes, so the river seemed like a safer bet, and these are just two examples of the state eastern DRC is in. One must be wondering, why is this happening? What do these groups want? It’s the same old story: the militants want the resources in the eastern DRC. This area is rich in minerals. There’s gold, of course, but more important is cobalt. Cobalt is a rare mineral. It is used in the production of electronics. It’s necessary to create batteries. From the batteries in your phone to the ones in electric vehicles, cobalt is required to make all of these batteries. So the mineral is in high demand, a demand that the brutal rebel groups cater to. The groups capture these mineral-rich areas, enslave the locals, and force them to work in illegal mines. These are often narrow tunnels that can collapse at any time. A few months ago, a video of one of these mines went viral. It was of the miners who were trapped there; the mine was in the eastern DRC, and it was a very inhumane condition there. All this has been known for years. So why isn’t anyone helping? What is the United Nations doing? The answer is, sadly, the usual: they’ve sent a peacekeeping force. “We’re here for Operation Springbok. We have several defensive positions, including this one that we’re showing you. There’s a lot more than just this position. The positions have been set up to support the FARDC (Congolese Army, ed.) in the potential advance of the M23,” said Major Éric Deshaies-Martin, Head of Information for Operations of the MONUSCO force. They say they are preparing for a new operation, but there are doubts about how useful that will be. The UN force has been in the area for decades. And it hasn’t managed to stop the massacres. “MONUSCO has been here for over 20 years and has not been able to solve the security problems of the Congolese people," said Christophe Muyisa, a Saké resident. On the contrary, members of the UN force keep getting caught in scandals. The force is deeply unpopular. And they have been asked to leave the country. They’re supposed to go by 8 December. While the fighting is escalating, there’s no international support, and the armed groups continue to run riot in the DRC. They continue to kill anyone who stands in their way. The man who set himself ablaze last week wanted to highlight all of this. To bring international attention to the DRC. It’s tragic that it had to come to this. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.