Government-Held Areas in DRC Need Urgent Aid, Analyst Says

KINSHASA, DRC - Congolese political analyst Me Jean Baptiste Gasominari has argued that areas under government control in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are in greater need of humanitarian assistance than those administered by the rebel group AFC/M23. Speaking on national television following a recent conference on the Great Lakes Region’s security, he stated that territories held by M23 in the east are currently safer and more stable than those managed by Kinshasa.

The remarks came after a high-level meeting in France on October 30, 2025, where French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to reopen Goma Airport within weeks to facilitate humanitarian flights twice a week. The move is aimed at boosting relief operations in eastern Congo amid ongoing conflict.

According to Me Gasominari, the M23 movement has restored order in the territories it controls, enabling displaced residents to return to their homes. “When AFC/M23 took over Goma and Bukavu in January, the population that had been forced into camps by government actions returned home almost immediately,” he said. “Today, visitors to these cities can see fields once again full of crops and communities rebuilding their lives.”

He accused the Congolese government of spreading misinformation about conditions in rebel-held areas to mislead the international community. “The DRC government used lies to convince people to move into camps, just to show the world that opponents had disrupted civilian life,” he said.

Gasominari acknowledged isolated tensions in M23-controlled zones, attributing them to government drone attacks and blockades that restrict access to markets and basic goods. However, he maintained that large-scale humanitarian needs are concentrated in government-held regions such as Beni, Butembo, Ituri, and Tshopo - areas plagued by violence from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and other armed groups.

“People there are being attacked, displaced, and killed,” he emphasized. “Those are the regions that truly need urgent humanitarian assistance.”

He concluded by criticizing the government’s narrative on aid distribution. “The claim that help is needed in M23-held areas is a deliberate lie,” Gasominari said. “Kinshasa no longer even has accurate information about those territories.”