DR Congo: UN denounces massacre
The UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has denounced the killings of fifty villagers by M23 in the conflict-wracked east, and called for an investigation to ‘bring justice’. The March 23 movement, or M23, is a Congolese Tutsi rebel group that was dormant for years. It took up arms again last November, seizing Bunagana town on Uganda’s border in June. ‘The UN said that the killings could constitute crimes under international humanitarian law, as well as violating the recent ceasefire. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor who won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping rape victims in the strife-torn region, also expressed horror at reports of mass slaughter, missing people, and forced recruitment of children into conflict. Human Rights Watch said UN troops should be deployed to protect survivors. Pray that M23 is disarmed and withdraws from land it has seized as requested by the East African leaders. On 8 December the UN announced that 131 civilians had died in an attack by M23 in November. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63899461
Indonesia: volcanic eruption
Mount Semeru on Java has erupted and sparked 2,500 evacuations, mostly on motorcycles. The volcano’s warning status escalated to the highest level on 4 December. The next day a giant cloud of grey ash engulfed the mountain and surrounding rice paddy fields, roads and bridges, turning the sky black, and a pyroclastic flow of lava, rocks and hot gases gushed down the mountainside. Volcanic ash mixed with monsoon rain fell on six nearby villages, and everyone was evacuated by rescuers. Semeru is the highest and most active Java volcano. Pray for the evacuated who do not know what they will discover when they return from the high alert situation.
Haiti: city taken hostage by gangs
In Port-au-Prince your life depends on knowing where the boundaries are. Competing gangs are claiming areas, kidnapping, raping, killing at will and demarcating territories in blood. Cross from one gang's turf to another, and you may not return. Armed groups terrorise 60% of the capital by controlling roads. 1,000 people were killed between January and June. The last head of state was killed in office, creating a vacuum; there is no functioning parliament , and the US-backed unelected prime minister is unpopular. Half the population face acute hunger, 20,000 face famine-like conditions and cholera, but gangs are the greatest plague. Morning and evening rush hours are kidnapping times as commuters are snatched from the streets in a growing industry. Ransoms range from £164 to £820,000. Most victims return if ransoms are paid, but they suffer: rape, burns by melted plastic, and more. Catholicism is the official religion, but voodoo is the national religion. The majority of Haitians practise some aspects of voodoo.
Syria: time to rethink aid
Contrary to the common perception (‘Syria’s situation has settled, so Syrians no longer need urgent humanitarian aid’) conditions especially in the rebel-held northwest have been worsening. The Assad regime and Russia continue to block access to food, medicine and other vital necessities. The Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the consequent global economic downturn have exacerbated the crisis. Soaring inflation in neighbouring Turkey has also had a devastating effect on the economy in the region, where the Turkish lira is widely used along with the US dollar. Four million people in north-western Syria urgently need aid. Over 3.1 million internally displaced persons are food-insecure. Clean water is scarce. Cholera is spreading and there is a sharp decline in humanitarian aid. Pray for unconditional access to vital food and water to be guaranteed for all Syrians; International media coverage and fundraising campaigns to boost donations for the Syria crisis; and in the longer term, for Syrians to be able not merely to survive but to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
