The pygmy Batwa, regionally also called Bambuti[4] or Bambote,[5] are often exploited and allegedly enslaved[1] by the Luba and other Bantu groups.

His son, Joseph Kabila, who succeeded him, used these militias in the Second Congo War and against the predominantly Luba Mai-Mai Kata Katanga.

[8] In September 2016, the United Nations along with provincial authorities established local councils called "baraza" to address grievances and this appeared to reduce the violence.

[6] However, clashes intensified at the end of 2016,[9] as the government tried to enforce a tax on caterpillars that the Batwa harvest as a major source of income to sell as a delicacy around the capital Kinshasa,[7][10] while the military attempted to arrest a Twa warlord.

[3] Around March 2017, 543,000 had fled, up from 370,000 in December 2016, the strongest growth of the current conflicts in the Congo, which has the largest population of displaced people in Africa.