Congo Back In Grave Trouble
November 3, 2008
The UN has said today that they have credible reports of camps housing 50,000 displaced people have been torched in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Aid groups have said that they are struggling to reach 250,000 people who have fled fighting between the government and rebel forces. David Miliband and his French counterpart FM Bernard Kouchner are preparing to travel to the country amidst intense diplomatic efforts to end the crisis.
In the provincial capital North Kivu, in and around Goma, a tense ceasefire is holding out.
General Laurent Nkunda who is the rebel leader is saying that he is fighting for the Tutsi community, protecting them from Rwandan Hutu rebels, the same Hutu rebels that were accused of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The government of the Congo has promised to prevent Hutu forces from using the territory but as yet has failed to do so. The country has great mineral wealth and General Nkhunda has objected to government plans to exploit these resources. The government will not negotiate with Nkunda, saying that he is a terrorist.
Aid chiefs speaking in Geneva have said that the area in and around Goma is incredibly volatile and access to those who need help in the area is exceptionally difficult.
According to a spokesperson for the UN there have been harrowing reports in north Goma; camps have been attacked, robbed and burned.
The rebels currently have control of the region and aid agencies have no access. The whereabouts of the 50,000 residents is currently unknown. There is a desperate shortage of food and water in the Goma area, with refugees being forced to leave.
The security fears have forced aid agencies to stop work. Along roads for miles and miles, there are families with their lives on their backs.
Marcal Izard a spokesperson from the Red Cross said:
”The whole population in Goma, and around Goma are feeling extremely unsafe, they need food, water, shelter and, most of all, protection, [and] some sense of knowing that they will not be attacked, that they will be spared by this new round of clashes.”
There is a desperate need for humanitarian assistance in the area. International help is needed to help thousands of displaced refugees. How much terror can this region take? There are so many that can remember the genocide of 1994 and they were the lucky ones. We can all know the harrowing stories shown on Comic Relief; the graves and those left behind with memories. We must learn lessons from past events and try and ensure that these people are not forgotten.
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