EngRegional
How selfish Western interests ruin DRC peace prospects
The
resettlement of Congolese refugees in the United States, Canada, Europe, and
Australia, has been portrayed as a ‘humanitarian’ act. However, political
analysts believe that this can not be a solution to the ever-escalating
conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as Western
powers keep contributing to the ethnic cleansing targeting Congolese Tutsi
communities.
On
many occasions, the UN's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice
Wairimu Nderitu, reported that in eastern DRC, the current violence is mainly
the result of the refugee crisis which led to the flight of many individuals
involved in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda to eastern DRC. The génocidaires from Rwanda formed armed
groups such as the FDLR, which are still active in eastern DRC.
Following
the defeat of the genocidal regime in Rwanda, the perpetrators of the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi fled to eastern DRC, and formed terrorist militias
that switched names from one to another until today’s FDLR.
The
then Congolese government led by Mobutu welcomed them with their genocide
ideology and weapons. Successive Congolese governments stepped in Mobutu’s
footpath, arming the génocidaires and
their descendants, harboring them in eastern DRC, and even integrating them
into the Congolese national army.
The
FDLR spreads genocide ideology in DRC. Its members, Congolese soldiers, and
other local militia groups forced millions of Congolese Tutsi to out of DRC,
while hundreds thousands of their relatives were murdered.
Instead
of supporting the implementation of different peace accords initiated to bring
law and order in eastern DRC so that refugees return to their homeland, the UN
and its International Organization of Migration put more effort in relocating
displaced Congolese to Western countries.
Resettling
Congolese refugees in the West is often depicted as humanitarianism, while it
has never been. For the countries taking the Congolese refugees in, these
refugees are much needed cheap manpower. Once they arrive in Western countries,
they are offered jobs in industries, farms, and construction sites, but are
paid below the minimum wage while they toil to uplift the economies of their
host countries.
According to a 2021 study by the World Migration Institute, countries that the refugees relocate to have been criticized for inadequately supporting refugees and lack of political assistance. Then there is the refugees’ low income status which will only lengthen with their stay in host countries.
While
Western countries argue that what they are doing is charitable, they are
benefiting more from the scheme.
The
persecution of Congolese Tutsi by the FDLR, the Congolese army, and other
militia groups, serves Western countries' selfish interests, while intensifying
ethnic cleansing in eastern DRC.
The UN
mission in the country, MONUSCO, has failed the Congolese for over 25 years
now. It often announces a withdrawal, and later on, a mandate renewal.
MONUSCO
has been the most expensive peacekeeping mission in the UN’s history. But
despite decades of operations in eastern DRC, it has brought no positive change
there. Armed groups multiplied from about five to over 260, and civilians have
been killed in their presence.
With
more than 19,000 troops and an annual budget of about USD1 billion, the blue
helmets consistently fail the Congolese Tutsi while serving interests of the
West. Some MONUSCO officials were reported to be involved in the formation of
armed groups in eastern DRC, and using the armed groups in securing mining
sites which Western companies extract.
Eastern
European and American mercenaries operating in North Kivu are well known for
drug trafficking and mineral smuggling, all done under MONUSCO’s keen watch.
Amidst
the escalating conflict in eastern DRC, MONUSCO has been evacuating and
treating FDLR casualties.
Evacuating
and treating FDLR’s wounded soldiers shows MONUSCO’s complicity in mass
killings targeting Congolese Tutsi in eastern DRC.
The Congolese have, on different occasions, protested against MONUSCO, asking the mission to leave their country because it is of no use to them.
The
blue helmets withdrew from some areas in South Kivu Province, pretending to be
exiting DRC soon or later. However, MONUSCO will go nowhere. Its mission –
protecting West’s interests in DRC – has never changed.
The plight of displaced Congolese means nothing in the lenses of Western powers. The latter only care about getting minerals and cheap manpower.
