Oh please no

Oh, please, not again. Not more.

Goma, Congo (Reuters, December 4) - Thousands of civilians have fled their homes after clashes in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said on Friday, but it was unclear who was behind the violence. ...

Diplomats in the Great Lakes region said Rwandan troops pushed briefly into the vast Central African country early this week to hunt down Hutu rebels, some of whom took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

"Instability in the area means we don't have an exact number but one (non-governmental organisation) estimates 46,000 people are hiding in the forests of Pinga and Walikale," Jahal de Meritens, head of the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Congo (OCHA), said in a statement.

He told reporters it was very hard to tell which groups were involved in the clashes, but said they appeared to involve the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.

Something like 4 million people have died as the result of the recurring warfare in the eastern parts of DR Congo, a significant part of which is spillover from Rwanda because of the Hutu rebels who have holed up in the region. Recent peace agreements have improved things for people there but the fighting keeps breaking out in fits and spurts, causing more death, more refugees, and more problems trying to get any sort of aid in or normal life re-established. It's bad enough that some in Europe are apparently beginning to think in terms of building up the Congolese army to the point that it will be capable of driving the rebels out of the country.

The question still to be asked is where would they go? Going back to Rwanda is almost certain death and going to some other state bordering Rwanda would likely lead to the conflict moving there. But after a decade of blood, death, and hunger, I'd be genuinely surprised if anyone in DR Congo gives a damn.