Land, migration and conflict in eastern DRC

The research paper argues that land in eastern DRC has transitioned from a basis of social identity to a currency of political and economic power, fueling ethnic conflict. It details how colonial 'indirect rule' and post-colonial legislation, such as the 1973 General Property Law, created a dual system of tenure that marginalized rural populations and empowered elites. In Masisi and Ituri, this structural insecurity was manipulated by local and regional actors to trigger mass violence, with land becoming a 'resource' for warlords to consolidate power through the control of 'unfree labour'.

• Colonial administration in the DRC established a dual system of property rights that institutionalized the link between ethnic identity and land access, creating a divide between 'autochthonous' and 'allochthonous' groups.
• The 1973 General Property Law (Bakajika Law) declared all land state property, effectively criminalizing customary land sales and leaving rural peasants in a state of legal uncertainty while allowing political elites to appropriate land through state-granted concessions.
• In North Kivu, particularly Masisi, land scarcity is driven by an inequitable distribution where a small number of landowners hold the majority of fertile land due to their connections to Mobutu's patronage networks.
• Land has evolved from a 'source' of conflict into a 'resource' of war, where rebel leaders and warlords use the distribution of land to build loyal constituencies and control 'unfree labour'.
• In Ituri, the conflict was triggered by the expansion of ranching concessions and the corruption of the land titling process, which often bypassed local consultations and surveys.
• The 'geopolitique' principle introduced during the 1990s democratisation process intensified ethnic competition by arguing that authority should only be held by those indigenous to a specific region.
• The presence of Rwandan refugees and militias after 1994 altered local dynamics in the Kivus, introducing the Hutu-Tutsi antagonism into local land struggles and creating the concept of 'Hutu-land'.

APA

VLASSENROOT, K., & HUGGINS, C. (n.d.). Land, migration and conflict in eastern DRC. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/4LAND.PDF

Chicago

VLASSENROOT, KOEN, and CHRIS HUGGINS. Land, migration and conflict in eastern DRC. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/4LAND.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=VLASSENROOT |first1=KOEN |last2=HUGGINS |first2=CHRIS |title=Land, migration and conflict in eastern DRC |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/4LAND.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vlassenrootndland, author = {VLASSENROOT, KOEN and HUGGINS, CHRIS}, title = {{Land, migration and conflict in eastern DRC}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/4LAND.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }