The Unknown Side Effects of Refugees

As of December 2010, almost 4 million Congolese civilians had been displaced by violence in eastern Congo.  Half of the displaced relocated from the South Kivu province along the eastern border to North Kivu.  Here, many of them have been forced to relocate multiple times due to resource unavailability as established communities struggle to provide for the needs of the displaced.  The refugees that make it beyond the DRC’s borders seek shelter in displaced-persons camps in the neighboring countries of Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia.  They also frequently find themselves in countries as far away as Zimbabwe, where there are currently 2,792 recorded Congolese refugees.  The conditions for refugees in foreign camps are easily superior to the ones they would be living in if they had remained at home, but the costs of supporting them are burdensome on both local communities and state governments.  The World Food Bank struggles with organization and food transportation as most food supplies are transported overland from South Africa.  This means that it is difficult to insure the quality of food being provided to refugees and that the majority of the funding for food ends up being spent on the high costs of transportation. 

Give Peace a Deadline is working to bring the Congolese home.  If the mining of the lootable resources in the eastern part of the country is legitimized, warring factions will have less to fight over and it may be possible to bring security and stability to the region.  Congolese citizens will be able to return home and to take part in the process of rebuilding.  Until then, it is imperative that we continue to push technology companies to clean up their acts and stop contributing to the conflict.  Groups such as the Enough! Project in Washington DC have made great strides in this respect.  To find out more, and to raise your voice in favor of helping to clean up mining in the DRC, visit: http://www.enoughproject.org/conflict_areas/eastern_congo.