War Displaced Persons and Identity Socialization in Kindu

In this book, the author looks back at the wars that took place in the DRC between 1998 and 2003, pitting the Rwandan-backed RCD (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie) rebellion seeking to overthrow the late President Laurent Désiré Kabila against the government army, and the RCD rebellion against the Mai Mai resistance fighters. Once in town, these displaced populations found no official structures to welcome and assist them, so they developed an identity strategy to adapt to their new environment, hence identity socialization (a socialization based on belonging to the same family, tribe or ethnic group, or religious denomination).We call this identity socialization, insofar as, thanks to the welcome, help or assistance they received from members of their families, tribes and religious denominations, they were able to integrate into the refuge city.