#CongoIsBleeding: The “Heart of Africa” is Pumping Itself to Death

On the 14th of November 2023, a video uploaded on X (formerly Twitter) exhibiting the martyrdom of a Congolese man in gruesome detail went viral. The video showed the courageous man setting himself on fire while holding a sign that read “Stop the Genocide in Congo” before succumbing to the flames. His protest sparked a wave of sadness and solace from online users, applauding the bravery and valor portrayed by the unidentified warrior. More notably, though, his death ignited the start of an extremely overdue discussion.
 
Decades of pain and endless nightmares have overtaken the once vibrant communities that lie in the “Heart of Africa”, a reality that the world not only ignores, but selfishly engages in. A reality deemed unimaginable but is quite literally alive on the same planet where we co-exist.
 
The Democratic Republic of Congo, most commonly referred to as the DRC, situates in Central Africa and is among the least globalised countries in the world. With a global HDI index of 0.479 and a rank of #179 out of 191 countries (for comparison, #1 has an HDI index of 0.96), the aftermath of their civil war that lasted 5 years from 1998-2003 has still left severe dents into the country’s own development. With high rates of displacement and casualties, the situation in Congo has been ticked as the textbook definition of genocide. Despite tensions arising between the alleged abusive militant groups and civilians, and while it has played a part in the death toll, the prominent suspects behind this labelling actually falls under the hands of Corruption and Capitalism.
 
Among these multifaceted challenges, the most notorious incident is how the “Heart of Africa” suffers a silent crisis bounded by their own natural wealth in minerals. A necessity for the production of batteries and electronic components, cobalt and coltan are just a few of the rare minerals the DRC possesses, and while this feat holds huge potential for Congo’s income, the corruption of the government has led this demand to inadvertently perpetuate the ongoing conflict, as armed militant groups begin to fight over and claim certain territories, killing civilians in the process. The extraction of these minerals is also a cause for major concern, following the steps of modern-day slavery when children as young as 4 get recruited as workers in the mining sector. The chemical properties in coltan causes fumes of acid to be released during an extraction, violating major health concerns towards the underpaid and overworked miners and creating devastating environmental impacts as large sections of of biodiversity would have to be cleared for these minerals. In situations like these, one cannot just blame the government, but must also highlight how global supply chains are complicit to these ethical failures.
 
The government’s inability to intervene and implement laws preventing the exploitation of their people could only highlight the truth, which is that the president of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has failed to keep his promise of peace towards the people. However, it is important to note the political instability of Congo dates back to before Tshikesedi’s election in 2019, in fact the presences of coups and conflicts has been alive since Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960. With no signs of improvement, it is truly unclear how much longer innocent civilians will have to suffer under these atrocious conditions.
 
The resilience of the Congolese citizens is the only rope of strength holding them together, as it seems the world has failed them. Moreover, the power of international awareness should be taken advantage of, like how the hashtag #CongoIsBleeding is rapidly spreading through influential platforms, and once enough people are informed, hopefully action will take place. In the end, the people in suffering do rely on social media users to do what the world has disabled them of and amplify their voices to overcome the greed that has blinded the government.

Written by Aisha Ratnabila