Goma is a
city in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of
Lake Kivu, next to the
Rwandan city of
Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the
Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active
Nyiragongo Volcano. The recent history of Goma has been dominated by the volcano and the
Rwandan Genocide of 1994, which in turn fuelled the
First and
Second Congo Wars. The aftermath of these events was still having effects on the city and its surroundings in 2010.
Goma is capital of North Kivu province, ethnically and geographically similar to South Kivu (capital Bukavu); the two provinces are known as "the Kivus".
Effects of the Rwandan Genocide
Goma at the centre of the refugee crisis
The
Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was perpetrated by the Hutu-dominated provisional Rwandan government on the
Tutsi population and Hutu moderates. In response the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), formed by Tutsi refugees in Uganda, which already controlled large areas of northern Rwanda following its 1990 invasion and the ongoing
Civil War, overthrew the Hutu government in Kigali and forced it to relocate to the border town of Gisenyi. As the RPF captured ground, thousands of Hutu refugees fled before it, many ending up in
Gisenyi. Then, from July 13 to July 14, 1994, 10,000–12,000 refugees per hour crossed the border into Goma as the
Great Lakes refugee crisis took shape. The massive influx created a severe humanitarian crisis, as there was an acute lack of shelter, food and water. Shortly after the arrival of nearly one million
refugees, a deadly
cholera outbreak claimed thousands of lives in the Hutu refugee camps around Goma.
Goma in the First Congo War
Hutu militias and members of the Hutu provisional government were among the refugees, and they set up operations from the camps around Goma attacking ethnic Tutsis in the Kivus and Rwandan government forces at the border. For political reasons the
Kinshasa government of the then
Zaire led by
Joseph Mobutu did not prevent the attacks, and so the Rwandan government and its Ugandan allies threw their support behind the
Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire, a rebel movement led by
Laurent Kabila against Mobutu. Rwandan forces stormed the camps at Goma, resulting in thousands of additional deaths, and with their help and that of Uganda, Kabila went on to overthrow Mobutu's regime in the
First Congo War, which ended in 1997.
Goma in the Second Congo War
Within a year Kabila had quarrelled with his former allies, and in 1998 the Rwandan government backed a Goma-based rebel movement against Kabila, the
Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD, sometimes called RCD-Goma) made of
Banyamulenge people, related to the Tutsis. They captured Bukavu and other towns, and the
Second Congo War began. The Goma refugee camps, in which the Hutu had created a militia called the FDLR (Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda), were again attacked by Rwandan government forces and the RCD.
The Second Congo War was unprecedented in Africa for the loss of civilian life in massacres and atrocities. By 2003 the Banyamulenge had become tired of the war and friction emerged between them and Rwanda. In 2002 and 2003 a fragile negotiated peace emerged between the many sides involved in the war.
Conflict since the end of the war
There have been numerous outbreaks of violence since 2003. The Hutu FDLR remains in the forests and mountains north and west of Goma, carrying out attacks on the Rwandan border and on the Banyamulenge. The Congolese defence forces are unable or unwilling to stop them, and as a consequence Rwanda continues to support Banymulenge rebels such as the RCD and
General Nkunda, and to carry out incursions into North Kivu in pursuit of the FDLR.
On October 27, 2008, fighting broke out in the city between the Congolese army, supported by MONUC, and Nkunda's CNDP rebels. 200,000 refugees had fled the town.
Volcanic activity around Goma
The Great Rift Valley is being pulled apart, leading to earthquakes and the formation of volcanoes in the area.
2002 Eruption of Nyiragongo
volcano.]]
In January 2002,
Nyiragongo erupted, sending a stream of
lava to one kilometre (1,100 yd) wide and up to two metres (6½ ft) deep through the center of the city as far as the lake shore. Agencies monitoring the volcano were able to give a warning and most of the population of Goma evacuated to Gisenyi. The lava destroyed 40% of the city (more than 4,500 houses and buildings). There were some fatalities caused by the lava and by emissions of
carbon dioxide, which causes
asphyxiation. The lava also covered over the northern 1 km of the 3-kilometre (10,000 ft)
runway of
Goma International Airport, isolating the terminal and apron which were at that end. The lava can easily be seen in satellite photographs, and aircraft can be seen using the 2-km (6,500-ft) southern section of the runway which is clear of lava.
In 2005, volcanic activity again threatened the city.
The threat posed by Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of three lakes in Africa identified as having huge quantities of dissolved gas held at pressure in its depths. Two of the others,
Lake Monoun and
Lake Nyos, experienced a
limnic eruption or 'lake overturn', a catastrophic release of suffocating carbon dioxide probably triggered by landslides. Lake Nyos overturn was particularly lethal, killing nearly two thousand people in the area around the lake. Kivu is 2,000 times bigger than Lake Nyos and also contains dissolved methane as an additional hazard - though concentration of carbon dioxide is much lower than in Lake Nyos. Nearly two million people including the population of Goma live in the vicinity of Lake Kivu and could be in danger from a limnic eruption triggered by one of the nearby volcanoes and the earthquakes associated with them.
Other features of Goma
The city centre is only from the Rwandan border and from the centre of Gisenyi.
After being closed to international travel since the 2002 eruption of the volcano, the Goma International Airport now accepts commercial charter flights and also a passenger line travels from Nairobi to Goma.
Goma has four or five lakeside wharves totaling about 130 m, the longest being about 80 m.
Virunga National Park, home to endangered mountain gorillas, lies north of the city.
National Road No. 2 connected Goma to Bukavu and Kisangani but at August 2007 had not been reopened after the damage caused by the wars and lack of maintenance.
Goma was once known for its nightlife, but this is no longer the case due to the conflict.
See also
Lake Kivu
Bukavu
North Kivu
South Kivu
References
External links
Tom Casadevall of the United States Geological Survey; "The 1994 Rwandan Refugee Crisis: Cultural Awareness in Managing Natural Disasters" (1h28m streaming video). Lecture given at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on vulcanology around Goma
Jordhus-Lier, David: Life and Death in the Great Lakes Region. The NIBR International Blog, 15.02.2010.
Category:Populated places in Nord-Kivu Province
Category:Populated places on Lake Kivu
Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo – Rwanda border crossings
Category:Cities in the Great Rift Valley
![Paty Cantú | Goma de mascar [video oficial]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110907150534im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qztOuGQiZ9g/0.jpg "Paty Cantú | Goma de mascar [video oficial]")
Philippines catches 'largest' crocodile on record
Deccan Herald
Gaddafi leaned on Arab allies
Independent online (SA)
Powerful bomb blast outside Delhi High Court, 9 killed
Indian Express
Large Libyan convoy 'arrives in Niger'
Al Jazeera
9-11 and Its Commercialization and Absence of Government Failure
WorldNews.com
