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Competition for resources to escalate violence in DRC

Friday, September 9, 2016

Subject

Eastern DRC violence outlook.

Significance

By late August, nearly 192,000 people were internally displaced in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). High levels of violence and attacks on civilians are in part driving these displacements. As the DRC heads towards a political crisis, opportunities to leverage violence in pursuit of political gains raises the risk of greater unrest in the east of the country.

Impacts

  • Divisions in the FDLR raises the risk of Rwandan intervention in the DRC.
  • The presence of Burundian rebels in South Kivu could regionalise the DRC's instability.
  • The UN peacekeeping mission will struggle to manage smaller, more fragmented groups and will appear unfit for purpose.

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