DR Congo:'We feel abandoned' says priest as rebels move into mineral-rich region

M23 fighters loyal to Rwanda move along road to Goma, DRC (© MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti)

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

The fight for the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) natural resources is putting communities at risk, a priest has warned.

Armed rebel group M23 took over Bukavu on DRC's eastern border in February 2025 instilling fear in the local diocese. Since then people have fled from 30 of its 44 parishes.

Father Floribert Bashimb, vicar-general of Bukavu Diocese, told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): "We don't feel isolated, we feel abandoned. The people are suffering, because they can no longer extract minerals and rural activities have been halted because of insecurity.

"The M23 controls the mines and has put an end to all small-scale mining, because now they control the resources. In some places, especially in the north, they are replacing the local population."

Rwanda-backed M23 fighters invaded North Kivu Province in 2021 and took control of its capital Goma in 2024, turning it into its operational headquarters. Since then, the parishes in Goma have been closed.

On 15th February 2025, the group arrived in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province.

Fr Floribert explained that competing interests in the extraction of coltan and gold have fuelled - and often obscured - the ongoing cycle of violence that has engulfed the region.

The Congolese priest told ACN that M23 is also undermining the Church's activities in the region. He said: "If we leave, we don't know who will come, they will occupy our lands and our homes."

People know that if they flee, M23 fighters will seize their mineral-rich land - and that includes the Church.

After seeing what had happened in Goma, priests in Bukavu were instructed to remain, as the Church feared that its buildings would be taken over.

Currently, the priest said, 30 out of 44 parishes are losing parishioners although some are staying.

Fr Floribert said clergy remained because they understand the hope it brings "when the people hear the church bells, they know there is life in the village".

M23 has set up its own tax system - imposing customs and other charges - while profiting from occupying mining regions rich in gold and coltan.

Fr Floribert said despite the country's vast mineral wealth, ordinary people see no benefits: "The minerals of the Congo have been exploited for centuries, but the poor also have a right to live and to live in peace."

DRC remains trapped in "a cycle of violence which leaves us hungry and poor."

Nonetheless he said relations between the Church and the occupying M23 forces remain cordial: "Until now they have respected our infrastructure, they have not touched our vehicles and when we have been faced with arbitrary arrests of our faithful the Church intervenes and we find a solution."

The DRC is a priority country for ACN, which supported 258 projects throughout the country in 2025.

Fr Floribert said: "We are grateful to ACN for its support. It is our main benefactor and has worked with us especially in the training of future priests, the organisation of spiritual retreats and the construction of new churches or the restoration of older ones."

Meanwhile eastern DRC has been gripped by a deadly outbreak of Ebola.

According to the BBC as of Tuesday (19th May), there were 514 suspected cases, with 136 people believed to have died from the virus. Cases have been identified in Butembo and rebel-controlled Goma, as well as in South Kivu Province.

With thanks to Daniel Castilla

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Aid to the Church in Need: https://acnuk.org