Fear grips Congolese as conflict rages

As he sat down in his rented house in an estate in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Claude Misingi was deeply lost in thoughts, pondering on the welfare of his mother and siblings back in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the ongoing conflict that has bedeviled the mineral-rich country for decades.

"It's frustrating when sometimes my calls go unanswered and even when I see any call from my mother or my siblings, I'm so shaken and nervous hoping that I'm not about to receive negative news. It's devastating. I long for the day my country will have peace and we all go back home," he said.

Misingi, who has been a refugee in Kenya for almost 20 years, said financial constraints have compelled his people to stay in the war zone, unable to seek asylum in neighboring countries since the escalation of the conflict in DR Congo at the beginning of the year.