Forced Migration in Rwanda
Forced migration is a situation in which the liberty or life of individuals is taken away or threaten at the hands of another. The reasons behind forced migration are beyond the control of those being forced out of an area. Those who are displaced do so because it is the only possible way in which to survive. Often the conditions which cause forced migration include oppressive political regimes, war zones, and areas of famine. There are many recent examples of such forced migration throughout the modern world, specifically the example of mass movement from Rwanda in the mid 1990's. Between 1993 and 1994 over "900 000 were displaced by the war and living in refugee camps" (Olsen 1995, 219). The Rwanda case tells us important things about the complexity of links between many different factors. In other words, there is no one reason behind migration of such magnitude. To understand the complex conflicts like the Rwandan genocide, one must be aware of the issues motivating the conflict. What people do and what physical environment they do it in, but also why they do it must be examined. The forced migration in the African nation was initiated by many sources of insecurities ranging from ethnic insecurities of both distant pas
In the context of ethnic divisions, these problems were easily channelled into an ethnic conflict. A culture with respect is essential for this process to initiate itself. This funnelling of government funds along with declining international markets caused the development of the country to be yet again inhibited. The situation of environmental scarcity along with the clear social cleavages of ethnicity is affiliated with intergroup competition and hostilities. The environmental and population pressures produced social stress, which in turn resulted in violence. The Hutu had now become the oppressor and the Tutsi the oppressed. Ethnic insecurities, developmental and resource based insecurities along with political incentive played on the threatened security, and caused broader, future implications. This was a key reason as to why political leadership was so important and so highly sought after. Even if the country gets back on its feet, these sorts of resource and economic hardships are bound to reappear due to the cyclical nature of the economy. The past events will not be erased from the minds of the Rwandans anytime soon. Frustration was further intensified by increased corruption in the Rwandan government. In Rwanda, those holding social and political powers enjoyed many benefits. The lack of land, combined with increasing populations created resentment and frustration within this large segment of Rwandan society. The country of has no future without some kind of resolution between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The RPF invasion oaf 1990 was an attempt to overthrow the Habyarimana's government (Olsen 1990).
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