Save the Refugees in the Eastern Congo

Fr. Shay Cullen

A stronger, better-armed UN force is urgently needed to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children in the Eastern Congo. Five million people have died in that region over the past several years. If the people of the Eastern Congo are not killed by machetes, bullets and bombs, then they die of starvation and disease. In these recent weeks thousands of people caught in the crossfire are fleeing from one temporary refugee camp to another.

Charities have appealed for donations to ease the plight of refugees in and around Goma, the capital of the Eastern Congo. There are 17,000 UN peace keepers in the Eastern Congo, the biggest in the world, yet there is no peace — only continual fighting by rival forces.The situation is complex as the Congolese government troops and their allied militia called the Mai-Mai battle with the rebel group led by a Rwandan Tutsi leader General Laurent Nkunda. Also fighting him are the Hutu militia who fled Rwanda after the genocide was stopped by the returning force of Tutsi exiles. There are persistent reports that all groups are recruiting child soldiers.

Government troops have also clashed with the Mai-Mai militia who are supposedly their allies. Government troops have set up their own lucrative mining business profiting from selling tin ore, diamonds and gold and other precious minerals that end up in the laptops and cell phones of consumers around the world. Laurent Nkunda (supported by President Kagame of Rwanda) claims that his goal is to protect the thousands Rwandan Tutsis living in the Eastern Congo who fled there during the genocide unleashed against them by the Hutus in 1994. His enemies say he is aiming to seize power and the mineral wealth of the region. He is the key player in solving the conflict and peace talks have to be pursued with him. President Kagame is also playing a role as he sent troop across the border into the Eastern Congo a few weeks ago.

The world community cannot allow more killing and massacres in the Eastern Congo. They turned away from the Rwandan genocide. Will they do it again? The French foreign minister said the UN force is in disarray and can't protect the people. The French and Spanish commanders have resigned in frustration. How many times are we all to say “never again” to genocide, mass murder and a "catastrophic" situation?

Fr. Shay's columns are published in The Manila Times,in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line.Visit www.preda.org for more related articles.Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, the Philippines. e-mail: preda@info.com.ph