Congo’s ills stretch back to colonial times, but their cure lies in contemporary politics
is the scene of the world’s most neglected major war. Some 5.5m Congolese have been forced from their homes, a number second only to Syria. Violence in the east of this vast central African country is intensifying,. Despite the imposition of martial law, the deployment of soldiers to run the two bloodiest provinces and the central government’s confident boast that things are getting better, they are not.
For decades the mayhem in eastern Congo has destabilised the region. The country imploded between 1998 and 2003, and troops from eight other countries barged in to fight over its mineral wealth. Perhaps 1m-5m people died in that war, mostly of conflict-induced starvation or disease. Today, the neighbours still meddle, and Congo’s lawlessness holds back all of the East African Community , a bloc of about 300m people.
Any effort to end the war must start with trying to understand its causes. About 120 armed groups terrorise locals and fight one another, and the army, for control of gold and other natural treasures. The war is not one of state against state. Nor does it involve separatists or rebels trying to topple the government.
. Some politicians in Kinshasa would rather let ambitious army officers grow rich in the far-off east than have them back in the capital, possibly plotting coups. The army, for its part, seems to enjoy the power that martial law has given it since it was imposed on parts of eastern Congo last year. Many military men are neck-deep in smuggling, extortion and graft, not to mention human-rights abuses. Efforts to professionalise the force have made little progress.
What can be done? The West could start by withholding aid from countries that refuse to stop supporting rebel groups, such as
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