'Humanitarian catastrophe' in DR Congo

[Aontan 0]

DR Congo refugee camps 'destroyed'

Friday, 31 October 2008 17:26

[Duke87 1,070]

More fighting and hardship in Africa. Not really surprising, stability there sees hard to come by.

I believe it was about 10 years ago now that this very same country had a little revolution and changed its name to "Democratic Republic of the Congo" from "Zaire".

[JanYpe 17]

The very same country that had a little revolution, yes. The little revolution that was part of the lead up to a regional war that cost about 4 million lives, by conservative estimates.

[His Divine Hand 244]

This is quite sad to see, peace does not seem to be able to hold on in at least the eastern part of the country. I can also put a personal face to this tragedy as I just recently met a man who is from Goma. He was going to return soon to visit his family there with his girlfriend, but I hope he has delayed those plans.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Very depressing, but to honest this kind of news from Africa no longer shocks nor surprises me. I'll be frank, the majority of the continent is a compete mess with the stable governments that do exist proving completely inept at dealing with the problems in their backyard.

Most parts of Africa are now in my opinion a lost cause with some nations destined to exist in perpetual civil violence and war. It's sad to see those nations existing like that, but they have no more to blame but themselves. The sooner they realise that and stop the silent treatment of their 'neighbours' the better.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: JanYpe The very same country that had a little revolution, yes. The little revolution that was part of the lead up to a regional war that cost about 4 million lives, by conservative estimates.quote>

I guess my tone didn't carry through in text properly. I didn't mean "little" literally.

[JanYpe 17]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: JanYpe The very same country that had a little revolution, yes. The little revolution that was part of the lead up to a regional war that cost about 4 million lives, by conservative estimates.quote>

I guess my tone didn't carry through in text properly. I didn't mean "little" literally. quote>

I guess you have trouble recognizing your own tone, since I was merely expounding on just how "little" this revolution proved to be.

[His Divine Hand 244]

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy Most parts of Africa are now in my opinion a lost cause with some nations destined to exist in perpetual civil violence and war. It's sad to see those nations existing like that, but they have no more to blame but themselves. The sooner they realise that and stop the silent treatment of their 'neighbours' the better.quote>

Of course it is all their fault, I mean how can we blame the European powers who enslaved their countries until the 50's and 60's while plundering the resources, failing to build an infrastructure that did no assist in the plunder, and encouraging ethnic rivalries! Not to mention the continued meddling by Western powers (and now China) in African politics and the eager willingness to prop up tinpot dictators so long as they keep the money flowing for western business, no we cannot say this has any blame for the problems in Africa, so long as western backed strongmen refuse to criticize their fellow western backed strongmen!

[belfastuniguy 18]

@Divine Hand: Yes of course the BIG BAD EUROPEAN EMPIRE'S are the SOLE cause of all of Africa's woes and problems. Oh please...give me a break.

European nations have not been present in Africa for over 40 years. Its about time they took some responsibility and stopped blaming all their issues on the days of colonial rule. Other nations experienced problems after independence yet moved on and many are prospering.

I'm so sick and tired of people jumping on the Colonial Eara as the reasoning behind the violence, corruption and total political ineptitude of modern Africa. Maybe you should actually look at the situations around Africa instead of resorting to your restrictive thinking.

[Yoman3 5]

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy @Divine Hand: Yes of course the BIG BAD EUROPEAN EMPIRE'S are the SOLE cause of all of Africa's woes and problems. Oh please...give me a break.

European nations have not been present in Africa for over 40 years. Its about time they took some responsibility and stopped blaming all their issues on the days of colonial rule. Other nations experienced problems after independence yet moved on and many are prospering.

I'm so sick and tired of people jumping on the Colonial Eara as the reasoning behind the violence, corruption and total political ineptitude of modern Africa. Maybe you should actually look at the situations around Africa instead of resorting to your restrictive thinking.quote>

Thinking that it has nothing to do with the current problems is just ignorance however.

[belfastuniguy 18]

I didn't say they had nothing to do with it, I stated blaming them as the sole cause is false, The vast majority of blame lies with the nations themselves. The sooner people realise that the better, otherwise Africa will continue in tear-apart and fail its people within the 'colonial-blame blanket' some people wrap around the issues.

If you really want me to go into detail and address each current and past issue I will, I assure you you will find that very little can be directly attributed to the 'horrendous' European countries. I'll also not take lectures from a citizen of a country that willing forces its agenda around the world in its quest for its quasi-version of empire.

[saltandsauce 0]

i think 50 years is PLENTY of time to sort yourself out, we managed to sort ourselves out after WW2 and we were bombed to buggery, SKINT (i mean unable to afford stuff like chalk for school type skint the whole country (individuals,businesses and the government) was on the verge of bankrupcy), and unable to feed ourselves. So no more of this self pitying crap about stuff that happened 50 years ago

[hamsterTK 93]

Not all of Africa seems screwed.

I want to be optimistic about South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana at least. These places seem to have infrastructure and government that can keep the peace. Remember the Asian Tigers were not very nice places 25 years ago, and that many of them still have sociopolitical challenges.

[JanYpe 17]

Originally posted by: saltandsauce i think 50 years is PLENTY of time to sort yourself out, we managed to sort ourselves out after WW2 and we were bombed to buggery, SKINT (i mean unable to afford stuff like chalk for school type skint the whole country (individuals,businesses and the government) was on the verge of bankrupcy), and unable to feed ourselves. So no more of this self pitying crap about stuff that happened 50 years agoquote>

You sorted yourselves out with the help of a fairly intact industrial complex, a healthy labour force, a long standing and fairly well organized governmental system, and an epic amount of support in the form of millions of Marshall Plan dollars.

It's not like you lot just rolled up your sleeves and started from scratch.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: JanYpe

I guess you have trouble recognizing your own tone, since I was merely expounding on just how "little" this revolution proved to be. quote>

Oh? It looked to me like you were snidely attacking my choice of words as if you were trying to shed light on a way I was somehow distorting the truth.

If that's not what you were doing, then I retract my previous statement.

[panthersimcity4 162]

Africa is such a tragic continent, bless their souls.

[His Divine Hand 244]

@Belfastuniguy: Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying colonization and continued interference by western powers (case and point: France in Rwanda in 1994) are the only reasons for the problems of Africa, but I would say that they are a major contributing factor. Isn't funny that most populations that were under colonial rule seem to have problems with poverty, political instability (or a severe lack of liberty) and ethnic troubles? Such a weird coincidence.

Originally posted by: hamsterTK

Not all of Africa seems screwed.

I want to be optimistic about South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana at least. These places seem to have infrastructure and government that can keep the peace. Remember the Asian Tigers were not very nice places 25 years ago, and that many of them still have sociopolitical challenges.quote>

There are quite a few countries that have been improving. Uganda is at the moment doing quite well (time will see as their western backed dictator slowly loses power), as is neighboring Rwanda, which has improved quite vastly over where they were in 1994; too bad they also have a president who is questionable in his commitment to democracy.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Isn't funny that most populations that were under colonial rule seem to have problems with poverty, political instability (or a severe lack of liberty) and ethnic troubles? Such a weird coincidence.quote>

Not really. Some of these countries are restrictive due to the governments that control them, many in Africa influenced or lead by Islamic dogma. A lot of nations have had billions upon billions poured into them as aid yet the inability to make the governments accountable have resulted in corruption. As well as a rampant and uncontrolled birth rate leading to more population than the country can support.

One of the very reasons European nations do not impose stricter rules on aid is the fact that many WAIL about more European interference and speak of European nations being colonial in nature. Former British colonies are actually doing rather well in general terms. Then again we didn't really leave those countries in a total mess with no infrastructure as you previously stated. It was us who brought them industry, rail, roads and schools. What they did with them after we left is their problem...not ours. I'm not glossing over some of the terrible things that happened, but its rather easy and misleading to simply blame 50 year old empires on the problems of modern Africa. Anyone could make that conclusion without much thought, however, I tend to use more intelligence and look at the issues with finer detail.