Tramel Conners

Anna Chiles
Humanities
6/18/18

Crisis In DR Congo

Did you know that there are 4.1million internally displaced persons in Democratic Republic Congo?

Being very rich in resources and having an unstable government has caused problems for Congo in the

past. In 1965, Congo gained independence from Belgium and from then on the people in Congo have

been through continuous years of violence. As a result of going through the wars and the extreme

amounts of violence Congo is one of the least stable and developed countries in the world. Just in 2015,

there were 1,403,757 refugees from Congo mainly due to violence surrounding there everyday lives. Of

those refugees 170,368 were unable to leave the country. Due to an unstable economy and extreme

amounts of violence Congo is one of the worst places to live.

DR Congo's unstable economy makes it exceptionally difficult to thrive there. In the article ​Congo

Markets Being Under Corrupt Private Control​ by Quartz Africa, a former Congo president states “If you

want to steal, steal a little cleverly, in a nice way. Only if you steal so much as to become rich overnight,

you will be caught”(pg 3). In this quote, he told private civil servants to take revenue from citizens in

order to gain wealth. This is affecting the citizens because they have to make up for increased taxes due to

government officials demanding more money for themselves. In the same article, states “the situation in

markets such as the Marché de la Liberté aren’t stable and prone to conflict”(pg4). This shows that

although there is a system that the private civil servants use, it doesn’t work. Higher level authorities use

their control on the tax that comes from a certain city/town to become rich and force other higher

authorities to give up their hold on their income. Through all of the high demands and limited markets,

the economy remains unstable, as a result Congo remains a exceedingly unsatisfying place to live.
 DR Congo is one of the worst places to live today because of the extreme amounts of violence that has

and continues to haunt the county. This violence interferes with the lives of those who call Congo home.

On page 1 of BBC News’s article, ​DR Congo Conflict,​ it states “many eastern areas are still plagued by

violence as various rebel groups continue to operate there”(pg1). In Congo, there are many rebel/terrorist

groups that work near citizens in order to overthrow Congo's government and plunder its resources, thus

proving Congo's government doesn’t have enough power to remove these terrorist groups and create a

safe environment for their people. In the same article BBC news announced “the natural riches have

attracted rapacious adventurers, unscrupulous vicious warlords, and corrupt governments”(pg2). This

shows that Congo gets targeted on for its wealth in resources. Unfortunately, the groups that are out to get

Congo's property operate by using violence to take what they want; thus creating very dangerous living

conditions.

As result of an unstable economy and extreme amounts of violence, Congo is one of the least suitable

places to live. This is a result of corrupt officials using taxes to become rich and rebel/terrorist

organizations fighting to overthrow the government and plunder Congo's natural riches. This is a problem

that goes beyond the Congo because when the people that are fleeing their problems find shelter in n other

countries their problems will follow.

 Work Cited

“Q&A: DR Congo Conflict.” ​BBC News​, BBC, 20 Nov. 2012,

www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-11108589​.

Commentary. “Kinshasa's Informal Economy Is Trapped by a Corrupt ‘Tax’ System for Powerful

Public Officials.” ​Quartz​, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2018,

qz.com/1226530/kinshasa-markets-under-corrupt-private-control-of-dr-congos-civil-servants-

government-officials/.

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“Global Conflict Tracker.” ​Council on Foreign Relations,​ Council on Foreign Relations,

www.cfr.org/interactives/global-conflict-tracker#!/conflict/violence-in-the-democratic-republic-

of-congo.