Congo's conflict is escalating week after week. Here's why some say Canadians need to pay attention

As violence spreads across eastern Congo, members of Toronto's Congolese community say they're frustrated by Canada's lack of awareness and response to the crisis.

M23 rebels have taken over two major cities in the span of weeks, Goma and Bukavu. The UN reports that thousands of people have been killed since late January, including children, and sexual violence has risen to levels not seen in years.

The rebels are part of the most prominent armed groups vying for control of Congo's mineral-rich east. The UN and experts say M23 is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, and part of a decades-long conflict.

The UN says the M23 is largely made up of Tutsi fighters. The rebel group claims it's fighting to protect Tutsis against the mistreatment of Hutu governments in Congo, but a Carleton University professor says it's clear the group and other militias are smuggling mineral resources out of the country— including the essential components used to make rechargeable batteries for phones, computers and EVs.

"Whatever is happening in Congo should be perceived as an international conflict. It's not limited to Congo," said Evelyn Namakula Mayanja, assistant professor at Carleton University's Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies. Mayanja's research focuses on natural resource extraction and security, with a focus on Africa.

Kashoro Nyenyezi is one of the advocates attending and helping to organize rallies at Toronto's Sankofa Square, commonly known as Yonge and Dundas Square. She and other groups are calling for Canada to take more action on the growing but long-standing crisis that has displaced millions of people across the country. "People are angry and the world is watching, saying nothing," she said.

Nyenyezi, who moved to Toronto as an international student from the U.S. in 2021, says she hasn't been able to contact her family in Congo in over two weeks. While her elderly parents, daughter and granddaughter live in Bukavu, her sister and family are stuck in Goma, and she's not sure if they're okay.

"The phones are not working. It's just crazy. I'm only getting news about people who are dying, relatives we lost," Nyenyezi said. "It's just so traumatizing, and we have lived this before, so we don't understand how this is still going on and the world is looking."

Some advocates say Canada should sanction Rwanda, support an end to the conflict and help Congolese families trying to flee the region. Those in Toronto with family in the conflict zones are having to watch their loved ones die, says Jean Ilembu Lombe, the vice-president of the Communauté Congolaise De Toronto GTA. He said Canada should step up, especially considering that it has in other international crises in recent years.

"When the war started between Russia and Ukraine, Canada and the international community took many, many, many decisions, many, many humanitarian actions," Ilembu Lombe, said. "Today, the Congolese, we can say, nobody's looking at what happened in Congo."

When CBC Toronto reached out to Global Affairs for a comment on what Congolese advocates are asking for, a spokesperson referred to a previously released statement from the G7 Foreign Ministers on the conflict.

"We urge M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to cease their offensive in all directions. We call for the urgent protection of civilians," it reads.

"We deplore the devastating consequences of the renewed M23 and RDF offensive, worsening already difficult humanitarian conditions. G7 Foreign Ministers call for the rapid, safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians and reiterate that humanitarian personnel must be provided assurances of safety." Global Affairs did not answer whether Canada would create special asylum measures for Congolese citizens, similar to what it offered Ukrainians.

The long-running conflict is partly connected to Belgium's colonial rule in the region and the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the UN says, when around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were killed by the Rwandan military and Hutu extremists.