‘I will never see him again’: Aid workers killed in attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo | Conflict news

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo – It was Sunday, June 30, two days after M23 rebels captured Kanyabayonga, a strategically important town in the Lubero region of North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

After sunset, horrific images circulated on social media, showing the wreckage of unidentified vehicles and the bodies of two lynched people, whose bloody faces made them difficult to identify.

Hours earlier, five vehicles carrying a dozen humanitarian workers had left the Lubero area in the direction of Beni, about 100 kilometers away, local sources told Al Jazeera. Their convoy was attacked on the road.

Two Congolese employees of the foreign non-governmental organization Tearfund were killed, the organization said. In addition, five cars and seven motorcycles were set on fire, civil society sources told Al Jazeera.

Among those killed was 37-year-old John Nzabanita Amahoro, who had worked for the UK-based charity for 10 years as a water, sanitation and hygiene technician.

His younger brother, Jean Claude Nzabanita, said his death left a gaping hole in his heart.

“My brother was on a work mission and had nothing to do with the war. I will never see him again,” he told Al Jazeera.

The whole family had placed its hopes in Amahoro, who was the main breadwinner and the glue that held the siblings together, he added.

“He cooperated with everyone, but those who killed him did not know that thousands of hopes had just been destroyed,” he said tearfully.

170 security incidents

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there have been more than 170 security incidents directly targeting humanitarian workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of the year, leaving at least four people dead and 20 injured.

According to OCHA, more than a dozen humanitarian workers were kidnapped in the first half of 2024.

Violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been escalating since M23 rebels launched attacks on the Congolese army in late 2021.

Despite numerous calls for a ceasefire, fighting continues and the M23 has seized control of large swathes of Congolese territory, heightening tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbour Rwanda, which UN experts say supports the armed group – a claim Kigali denies.

As fighting rages, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes. Many now live in squalid conditions in refugee camps near the towns of Goma, Rutshuru and Lubero, where aid groups are trying to offer assistance.

At the time of his death, Amahoro was supporting a Tearfund-led emergency relief operation in the Kibirizi and Kayna heathlands, where thousands of displaced people had found refuge from the fighting.

Although it is still unclear who is responsible for the June 30 attack, experts believe that more than 120 armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo regularly carry out attacks on civilians.

At the same time, there has always been a great deal of mistrust towards foreign organisations.

Distrust of helpers

Dady Saleh, a social and security expert based in Goma, told Al Jazeera that the Congolese people no longer trust NGOs. People feel cornered by decades of war that has kept them in poverty and are outraged that they have not been able to benefit from the help of these organizations, Saleh explained.

“Many people believe that NGOs do not contribute to the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo and do not want the population to become self-sufficient, leaving them trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty,” he said.

Over the past four years, a climate of mistrust has gradually developed in the minds of many citizens, viewing the work of humanitarian NGOs through the lens of conspiracy theories. This goes back further than the current conflict. During previous Ebola epidemics, several attacks on medical aid teams were also reported. In the east of the country, rhetoric against aid workers, blaming NGOs for the country’s misfortunes, has also been increasing for decades.

According to the UN, in North Kivu alone there are over 2.5 million internally displaced people who urgently need humanitarian assistance.

UN agencies and humanitarian groups in the province are trying to provide essential basic needs such as food, water, shelter and sanitation – something that people in the local community recognize, even if some are skeptical.

“The WFP (World Food Programme) gives us money; we buy clothes for our children and our women,” says Olivier Shamavu, a displaced person living in Bulengo camp, southwest of Goma. He adds that other organisations such as Concern are building them toilets and providing them with facilities such as water.

According to reports from some displaced people shared with Al Jazeera, misunderstandings and lack of communication may be among the factors leading to distrust of aid workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Challenging” context

Ronely Ntibonera, 33, is a humanitarian communications specialist based in Goma. She works for MIDEFEHOPS, a local NGO that promotes the rights of children and vulnerable women.

He described an incident in late 2022 and told how he narrowly escaped being kidnapped by armed men in the Rutshuru area.

According to him, while humanitarian workers are working tirelessly to alleviate suffering, they are still being targeted by armed groups and even civilians incited by dark forces.

“The situation in North Kivu is a big challenge for us. Every day we face security problems. I was brutally arrested by an armed group who claimed I was a spy for an opposing side. Fortunately, the local authorities supported me and I was released. I was afraid of being kidnapped by them, but God helped me,” he said.

Another aid worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera how he escaped a mob while working for World Vision in Goma in April.

“One day I was distributing canisters to war refugees. Suddenly – we don’t know how it happened – people started throwing stones at me, saying the aid was not enough, while the displaced people expected more,” he said.

He said it was only thanks to a motorcyclist who was nearby that he was able to get to safety, adding that working as a humanitarian aid worker in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was like doing math homework in a furnace.

Hubert Masomeko is a security and peacebuilding expert in the Great Lakes region who closely follows the humanitarian situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

He was aware of the great suffering of the local population, but stressed that humanity and increased cooperation with the relief workers were necessary.

Masomeko believes that the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot provide the necessary services and assistance to the masses of displaced people alone. Authorised non-governmental organisations operating in the country have the right to work with the authorities to help those in need.

“It is sad to attack humanitarian workers in times of war. Internally displaced people need humanitarian aid so that they can survive. It is not prudent to attack NGOs, it can negatively impact the humanitarian aid provided to Congolese displaced people,” he warned, adding that the government should do more to ensure that attacks on humanitarian workers end by building peace and helping people return to their homes.

“We are still here”

The needs of the displaced people in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are immense and the funding targets have still not been met. Conditions for humanitarian workers remain difficult.

On 30 May, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it was suspending the distribution of food aid to displaced people in Kanyabayonga, which had begun five days earlier. The operation was originally scheduled to last for ten days, but was suspended due to clashes between M23 and the Congolese army, causing concern among members of civil society.

Meanwhile, Poppy Anguandia, Tearfund’s country director in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spoke out against the attack on her organization’s staff on June 30 in an interview with Al Jazeera.

She acknowledged that the situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is complicated and that many crises are occurring simultaneously. The reason for the violent incidents against aid workers is the lack of peace in the region.

However, she stressed that Tearfund will continue its mission to help where the need is greatest.

“At least for now, we say that we are still here and that we are continuing most of our activities to be able to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people fleeing conflict,” she said on the sidelines of a memorial ceremony held last week to pay her last respects to the woman killed.

Bruno Lemarquis, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Democratic Republic of Congo, called for an end to the attacks on aid workers, saying they constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law and were having a “devastating impact” on humanitarian access and the ability of aid agencies to deliver vital assistance to those in need.

“At a time of immense humanitarian need, it is unacceptable that those helping those affected are being attacked and killed,” he said last week.

The dire humanitarian and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo has allowed some to exploit the crisis to attack humanitarian workers, activists say.

Moise Hangi, a human rights activist with the Lucha civil society group, criticized the “lethargy” of the Congolese government. However, he believes that the government has all the means to restore the authority of the state and curb such incidents.

“If Kinshasa takes this war seriously, we can end it as soon as possible and allow our people to return home. This way we will no longer have to see so many humanitarian workers coming to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said.