Desperation of Murderous Anarchy
The plight of the Congolese grows more desperate with each passing day. Thousands of villagers who had fled their homes, hoping to escape the deadly depredations of both the Democratic Republic of Congo's regular army, and that of Laurent Nkunda's rebel forces, found no help waiting for them, no food, water or medicines provided by humanitarian groups, or government agencies. They trekked hopelessly back to their homes, hoping for the best.
But fighting, despite a number of loosely held ceasefires, continues to enslave the Congolese to fear and desperation, and the ongoing battles have now displaced over a million and a half people. None of whom have been able to benefit from outside assistance. The dire conditions in the country has created an atmosphere too dangerous for the incursion of aid agencies in searching to ameliorate the plight of the needy.
"The strong militarization of the area, the looting of houses and the threats of armed men prevent humanitarian workers from working in a safe environment" according to a United Nations report. There is no security whatever, the situation of the indigenous people is beyond precarious, with an ongoing campaign of mass murder, rape and pillage, without compassion, without cessation. Children abducted to serve in combat.
To add to the desperation, a few refugee centres have reported cases of diagnosed cholera, with fears growing of a potential epidemic of that deadly disease.
Africa goes berserk with stark regularity. When Rwanda suffered its catastrophic genocide against its Tsutsis, the Hutu militias responsible for the carnage fled into the Congo, where they continued to prey on Congolese Tsutsis receiving no protection from its disinterested, Hutu-led government.
The head of the National Congress for the Defence of the People who was once associated with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front that eventually won control of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, turned his attention to the ostensible protection of Tsutsis in Congo. With a sharp eye on the eastern DRC's wealth of natural resources such as gold, tin and other precious metals.
The country's lawlessness and utter desperation of its embattled people threatens to bring a repeat of the long civil war that bled out to include six African armies and which managed to destroy over five million lives, from disease and starvation through those war years. The UN finally dispatched the largest peacekeeping operation in its history; 17,000 troops to keep the combatants from further conflict.
Latterly, that inadequate presence of by-standing peacekeepers has done little-to-nothing to protect the Congolese. The Democratic Republic of Congo borders on nine other nations, all of them fairly unstable, all of whom may be pulled into the volatile conflict. Angola is already involved, fighting on the side of Congo, while the DRC fears the aspirations of Rwanda, to control Congo and its wealth of prized natural resources.
The African Union, whose purpose on the continent is meant to emulate a the oversight of a peace-keeping congress of African states, has thus far done nothing to halt the deterioration of relations, despite UN pleas for intervention and the addition of peacekeepers. A ceasefire, some restoration of calm is required to enable humanitarian groups to reach the refugees and offer vital assistance.
South Africa and Zimbabwe, both members of the South African Development Community, and both incidentally involved in that prolonged civil war, have pledged to send military advisers to assist the DRC government. "There is a danger the war will attract further international participation and that the whole central Africa region would explode in conflict" according to a Caritas aid worker.
There is Africa at it again, with its clans renewing ancient tribal hatreds against one another, threatening to annihilate one another from their shared geography. Will it never end? When will the sanctity and respect for human life trump the greed and animosity that breeds so readily and renews itself constantly in Africa?
But fighting, despite a number of loosely held ceasefires, continues to enslave the Congolese to fear and desperation, and the ongoing battles have now displaced over a million and a half people. None of whom have been able to benefit from outside assistance. The dire conditions in the country has created an atmosphere too dangerous for the incursion of aid agencies in searching to ameliorate the plight of the needy.
"The strong militarization of the area, the looting of houses and the threats of armed men prevent humanitarian workers from working in a safe environment" according to a United Nations report. There is no security whatever, the situation of the indigenous people is beyond precarious, with an ongoing campaign of mass murder, rape and pillage, without compassion, without cessation. Children abducted to serve in combat.
To add to the desperation, a few refugee centres have reported cases of diagnosed cholera, with fears growing of a potential epidemic of that deadly disease.
Africa goes berserk with stark regularity. When Rwanda suffered its catastrophic genocide against its Tsutsis, the Hutu militias responsible for the carnage fled into the Congo, where they continued to prey on Congolese Tsutsis receiving no protection from its disinterested, Hutu-led government.
The head of the National Congress for the Defence of the People who was once associated with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front that eventually won control of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, turned his attention to the ostensible protection of Tsutsis in Congo. With a sharp eye on the eastern DRC's wealth of natural resources such as gold, tin and other precious metals.
The country's lawlessness and utter desperation of its embattled people threatens to bring a repeat of the long civil war that bled out to include six African armies and which managed to destroy over five million lives, from disease and starvation through those war years. The UN finally dispatched the largest peacekeeping operation in its history; 17,000 troops to keep the combatants from further conflict.
Latterly, that inadequate presence of by-standing peacekeepers has done little-to-nothing to protect the Congolese. The Democratic Republic of Congo borders on nine other nations, all of them fairly unstable, all of whom may be pulled into the volatile conflict. Angola is already involved, fighting on the side of Congo, while the DRC fears the aspirations of Rwanda, to control Congo and its wealth of prized natural resources.
The African Union, whose purpose on the continent is meant to emulate a the oversight of a peace-keeping congress of African states, has thus far done nothing to halt the deterioration of relations, despite UN pleas for intervention and the addition of peacekeepers. A ceasefire, some restoration of calm is required to enable humanitarian groups to reach the refugees and offer vital assistance.
South Africa and Zimbabwe, both members of the South African Development Community, and both incidentally involved in that prolonged civil war, have pledged to send military advisers to assist the DRC government. "There is a danger the war will attract further international participation and that the whole central Africa region would explode in conflict" according to a Caritas aid worker.
There is Africa at it again, with its clans renewing ancient tribal hatreds against one another, threatening to annihilate one another from their shared geography. Will it never end? When will the sanctity and respect for human life trump the greed and animosity that breeds so readily and renews itself constantly in Africa?
Labels: Human Fallibility, Terrorism, Traditions, World News
posted by Pieface | 7:19 PM
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