Silent nights are as deadly as the war and disease they disguise

As festive lights flicker across our country and families get ready for Christmas, millions of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are living through a nightmare that barely registers here.

- Patrick Watt Guest columnist

Chance with two of her surviving children after fleeing DRC looting and bloodshed

Earlier this year, M23 rebel forces — backed by neighbouring Rwanda — seized control of the Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu, forcing five million people to flee their homes. Thousands were killed.It’s the latest chapter in a conflict that has cost six million lives since the Rwandan genocide in the mid-1990s. Yet its barely made an appearance in the UK — this is the biggest humanitarian emergency people in Britain haven’t heard of.

In October, I spent several days in eastern DRC meeting Christian Aid’s partners.

Their work is humbling and inspiring. Day to day, they deal with the basics: food, shelter and clean water. On a deeper level, they strive for something far more challenging but important — bringing people together across divides forged in violent conflict over decades.

I CAN share firsthand that the reality on the ground in eastern DRC is grim. I met Chance, a former shopkeeper and mother living under a UN-branded tarpaulin in an unofficial displacement camp.