Development in Sub-Saharan Africa - Assignment Example

It should be pointed out that Rwanda ethnic violence was started in April 1994 during which more than 0.8 million civilians and politicians (mostly Tutsis), police officers, and military soldiers lost their lives. It was one of the worst genocides in history which was triggered after the assassination of the Rwandan President named Juvenal Habyarimana, a representative from the majority Hutu group. Unequivocally, the Tutsis were alleged for targeting the plane of the President by rockets in an attempt to debilitate Hutus across Rwanda.

However, it should not be forgotten that tensions between Hutus and Tutsis already existed; therefore, the President’s assassination should be considered as the only motive that sparked this brutal massacre. It is worthwhile to mention that Paul Kagame was among the founder leaders of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which was actually a rebel group working under explicit and implicit support of Tutsi refugees in Rwanda followed by assistance by ‘moderate Hutus’. Indeed, the actual cause of this ethnic turmoil was the unilateral and open support to Hutu civilians by the Rwandan military, political groups, police, and entrepreneurs that were strictly against the presence of Tutsis across Rwanda.

Also, they organized a rebel group named ‘Interahamwe’ to carry out this genocide (BBC Report, 2008).3. Why does Africa have so many refugees?It is worthwhile to point out that the African continent has remained the center of civil disobedience movements, internal conflicts, ethnic turmoil, rebellions, militancy, religious intolerance, war among nations, bad governance, and political unrest because of weaknesses in systems and political institutions. Indeed, some major countries where the aforementioned factors have been observed include Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Algeria, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Albania, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone.

It should be noted that these internal and external conflicts have triggered wars, genocide, and massacres across entire Africa that resulted in mass migration. According to some estimates in 2010, the number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) from these conflicts have increased to over 8 – 9 million, an extremely greater amount. For instance, the conflicts sabotage economic growth, increase unemployment, and poverty; therefore, people are compelled to migrate to meet their basic psychological needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.

International community and human rights welfare associations (such as United Nations and Red Cross) have been trying to subside these conflicts (in an attempt to deal with the plight of refugees), yet the results are not satisfactory (Iiyambo, 2010).