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let's talk about one of the longest
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running conflicts in the world it's
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happening in the Democratic Republic of
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Congo which is here people also call it
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the DRC or sometimes just Congo but
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don't confuse it with the Republic of
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Congo which is another country next door
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the DRC is huge but we're going to focus
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on the east of the country where
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fighting has been going on for almost
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three decades involving dozens of armed
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groups neighboring countries like Uganda
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Rwanda and Burundi have got involved too
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so it's always been super complicated
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never as clear-cut as one side versus
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another but one rivalry that's played
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out this whole time has been between
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Congo and Rwanda and that's a big part
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of what's happening now at the start of
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2025 a powerful Rebel group called The
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M23 took over the cities of GMA and
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bukavu the capitals of North and South
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kilu provinces but the UN and others say
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the M23 is getting all kinds of support
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from Rwanda and that Rwanda has about 3
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to 4,000 troops on the ground in eastern
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DRC officially Rwanda denies any
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involvement Rwanda currently have any
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troops at all in eastn DRC I don't know
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you the commander-in-chief yeah there
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are many things I don't know M23 did not
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come back on its own it came back
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because Rwanda backed it it's part of an
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ongoing tension and conflict to between
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Congo and Rwanda for 30 years
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now it all goes back to the 9s or 1994
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to be precise that's when the genocide
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in Rwanda happened in just 100 days
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extremists from the majority ethnic
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group in Rwanda the hutus killed around
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800,000 people most of them were
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tootsies a minority ethnic group The
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genocide ended when a tootsie Rebel
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group took control of the capital kagali
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and seized power and by the way one of
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the leaders of that group was Paul
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kagame who's the current president of
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Rwanda and has been since the year
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2000 now during and after the genocide
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hundreds of thousands of hus fled over
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the border to refugee camps in DRC but
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among them were some of the extremists
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who took part in the killings they then
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started to remobilize and carried with
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them the anti-tutsi ideology that had
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stimulated the genocide in Rwanda and
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therefore kagali saw them as
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enemies 2 years after the genocide
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Rwanda invaded DRC to go after these
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Hutu militia groups and that kicked off
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what's known as the first Congo War
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other countries including Uganda and
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Burundi joined the fight they all went
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after Congo's president who'd been in
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power for more than 30 years kicked him
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out
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and installed a new
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government but they soon fell out with
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that new government and that triggered
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another even bigger War the war ended
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with a peace deal it included elections
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and a process to integrate various Rebel
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groups into the congales army but that
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deal never really brought peace
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particularly in eastern Congo it's what
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some analysts called a no peace no war
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situation there's a proliferation of
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armed groups the Army has remained
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fragmented and also very abusive and
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criminalize and then internationally
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although the uh Rwandan and Ugandan
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governments who were heavily involved of
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course in the Civil War have forly
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agreed to pull out their troops from
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Eastern DLC in the early 2000s they
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never really agreed to reduce their
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influence 20 years later Eastern Congo
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is still being fought over one of the
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main features of the conflict has been a
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series of rebellions by congales Tootsie
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groups often backed by Rwanda these
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groups have evolved over time but the
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M23 is the latest iteration and has
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become the most powerful it emerged in
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2012 and got its name from a piece deal
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that had been signed 3 years earlier a
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deal the M23 says the congales
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government never fully implemented the
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M23 actually managed to capture GMA back
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in 2012 but were forced to withdraw
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after just 10 10 days and for a few
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years after that the M23 were
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essentially out of the picture but they
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came back in 2021 and have been gaining
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more and more territory since then
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Kigali backed M23 Rebels ramped up their
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lightning offensive in the east of di
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Congo the way they've captured and this
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time held on to GMA and bukavu the
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Region's main cities shows just how
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powerful they've become K has returned
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to bukavu and people are getting back
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day our daily lives Rwandan backed M23
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Rebels now aiming for the city of UA UA
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would be the third major city in M23 is
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Advance in eastern DRC in a matter of
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weeks it's estimated that M23 has 6,000
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Fighters but a lot of people say they
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couldn't have taken all this territory
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without rwanda's help the M23 itself uh
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from what we understand is really
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dominated by the ran Army for key
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battles um it's it's thr on an army that
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is that brings the Firepower that brings
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the coherence the discipline the
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organization the resources with it the
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M23 didn't have any of that if it hadn't
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been for the Ronan Army we wouldn't be
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here today if also you see the number of
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rondan military who are fighting
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alongside M23 one will wonder if it is
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the M23 is backing is backed by Rwanda
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or if Rwanda is intervening just
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accompanying by m M23 now what do the
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M23 and Rwanda want an Eastern Congo
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well there's a lot going on here there's
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what the different sides are saying and
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also what experts are piecing together
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based on what's actually happening so
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for example the M23 and Rwanda say they
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want to protect tosis who faced
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discrimination and persecution in Congo
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for a long time but that doesn't
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necessarily explain everything they're
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doing or have done there is a history of
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persecution and discrimination against
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the congales tootsie community in the
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Eastern Congo it's very important to say
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that um on and yet there wasn't an
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increase in that discrimination or
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persecution in the days leading up to
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the M23 Rebellion it's not like they
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responded to an imminent threat the M23
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in Rwanda also say they're going after
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Hutu extremists these are the groups we
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mentioned earlier that Rwanda first went
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after back in the90s there's one group
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in particular which comes up it's called
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the fdlr and Rwanda still sees it as a
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security threat the FD question has to
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be answered we have to find a solution
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that is something Ronda has been always
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bringing up even when according to the
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UN report according to many uh actors in
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the region according to randan officials
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themselves the threat to Rwanda that
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represented fdlr has changed completely
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over years genocide has such a
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foundational role and run in society
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that it's
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impossible to actually disentangle
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genuine security concern from
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manipulation and pretext another reason
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people talk about is natural resources
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because this region has a lot of really
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valuable minerals that have always
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helped to fuel and fund the conflict
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there it's minerals like gold Cobalt and
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coltan which is used to make all kinds
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of electronic devices a recent report by
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un experts said that the M23 had taken
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in control of a mining area called Raba
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in 2024 it's got one of the biggest col
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mines in the region which was earning
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the M23 around $800,000 a month last
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year it said minerals were being
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exported via Rwanda last year about 1.1
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billion dollars of minerals were
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exported from Rwanda that's a very it's
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a huge amount for such a small economy
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and most of those minerals came from the
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Eastern Congo now another question is
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whether the M23 is Ambitions may have
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grown particularly off the back of all
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their recent military success because
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the M23 is also part of an alliance that
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seems to have political aims that go
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well beyond Eastern Congo it's called
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the AFC the acronym of its French name
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which translates as Congo River Alliance
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and the AFC is led by this guy cor nanga
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who's not Tootsie he's the former head
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of Congo's electoral commission but has
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become one of the main opponents of the
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president Felix chisti nangas said says
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he wants the M23 to take the fight all
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the way to the capital and take control
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of the whole country our objective is
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Congo we are fighting for cono we are
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not fighting for
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Min regime has destroyed the Army has
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destroyed the National Police he has
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destroyed Administration and above all
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he has destroyed Justice now President
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chetti says Congo's Army is ready to
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defend every inch of territory and his
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government has designated the m 23 as a
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terrorist
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group but we're not really seeing signs
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of that on the ground there are reports
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of congales soldiers surrendering and
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even fleeing to Rwanda and Congo's Army
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and government are notoriously weak the
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congales Army is a real mess and it has
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been historically it's been Riven with
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factions that come from armed groups
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that refused to be dissolved into the
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Ary so they retain parallel command
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structures um it's also an army that's
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extremely corrupt uh and all issues of
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pay and resources are um the subject of
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very severe infighting amongst senior
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military contrast that with the M23 and
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Rwanda who've been rapidly taking and
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holding territory and setting up
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parallel administrations in those areas
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uh everywhere it goes it's destroying
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administrative records issuing birth
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certificates setting up tax collection
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services and Revenue Services it very
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much feels like this is a long-term
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occupation so what about attempts to
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resolve this situation well there have
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been a couple of regional peace
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initiatives going on but neither have
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made much progress meanwhile Congo's
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president has called for countries to
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Blacklist Rwanda the US has put
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sanctions on a Rwanda Minister and the
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UK has announced some measures including
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pausing financial aid to Rwanda the EU
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is talking about suspending their
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mineral trade but have held off on
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sanctions for now since 2012 Rwanda has
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made itself very useful to a number of
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Western countries with whom it has a
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whole range of different uh ties uh
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whether it's sponsoring football teams
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or most importantly rwanda's
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peacekeeping operations in Central
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African Republic and I think notably in
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mosm Beque where the Rwanda Army is
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protecting a very important installation
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of the total oil company and I think
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these um create uh a set of
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relationships with Western politicians
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which means that Western politicians are
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very reluctant to challenge Kigali
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ultimately unless you force these
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leaders bring them to the table via
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means of international sanctions
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International boycotts close the money
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tap we're not going to see this um
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conflict ending unless you have some
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serious pressure being placed on the
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groups and while this cycle of conflict
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goes on driven by all sorts of
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motivations and competing interests it
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is unsurprisingly civilians who are
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bearing the biggest cost thousands of
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people have been killed in the recent
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fighting and hundreds of thousands have
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been
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displaced almost 1 million people were
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already living in camps around GMA
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they'd fled there to escape other rounds
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of fighting over the years but some of
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those camps have been attacked and
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destroyed and the M23 have also ordered
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thousands of people to leave these camps
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it's a critical issue here because
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you've got some of the most needy people
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on the face of this Earth really people
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that have been displaced for 2 years 3
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years and even more now having to return
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back to their their home villages
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for decades the conflict in eastern DRC
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has also been characterized by some of
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the worst atrocities imaginable some of
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the commanders have actually been found
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guilty of war crimes at the
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international criminal court in the Haag
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and this pattern of violence is still
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playing out Human Rights Watch says that
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in recent fighting both sides have
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killed and raped Camp residents
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interfered with Aid delivery and
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committed other
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abuses UNICEF says children are also
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being targeted with rape and at levels
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surpassing anything they've seen in
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recent years the UN has accused the M23
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of executing children I honestly don't
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think we've heard the extent of the
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humanitarian crisis unfolding sexual and
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gender based violence directed at
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children at women has really left scars
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that will continue on in individual
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Community lives for years to come at the
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end of the day it's uh 30 years of
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suffering for millions of conges people
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who do not have anything to do with the
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interest of one or another and who only
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want to live in a peaceful uh
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country at start here we cover topics
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that come up in the news check out this
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video we made that explains
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international law and the ICC and follow
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me on Instagram so you can stay up to
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date with all the stories we're working
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on
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