Fighting between United Nations troops and armed militia
forces in the Central African Republic has left civilians dead – at the hands
of, what some protestors claim to be, the U.N.
On Tuesday, United Nations Peacekeepers were fired upon by a
group of vigilantes in Bangui, the capital city of the Central African
Republic. The group of rebels was a locally organized formation of gangsters
that have been extorting and bullying community members for some time, claiming
to be protecting them from outside forces. The group had caused enough trouble
and violence to raise a red flag to the United Nations. An operation to begin
disarming the Central African militiamen began on Sunday, though not without
qualm or quarrel.
Two days after the beginning of the disarming operation
called Minusca, U.N. Peacekeepers and C.A.R. government soldiers were shot at
by local gunmen, and a firefight soon broke out. After four hours of heavy
fighting, 21 were reported dead by Bangui Mayor Atahirou Balla Dodo. 17 of
these bodies were taken from the morgue by protestors and placed in front of
the United Nations building as a sign of propaganda. Protestors are accusing
the U.N. of killing innocent civilians, though most of the corpses taken from
the morgue were in fact rebel vigilantes whom had attacked the Peacekeepers.
The Central African Republic has experienced much unrest and
a lack of stability since its independence from France in the 1960s. Uncontained
religious and political groups have come and go, leaving violence in their wake
and destroying any hope of democratic development.
This pattern of violence, rebellion, and political turmoil
is all too common in nations colonized and pillaged by Europeans in the last
few centuries. Relatively peaceful regions are put under colonial rule, often
enslaved by foreign explorers, and have their resources stripped away from
them. Structures imposed on natives by alien invaders more often than not do
more damage than anything, especially when the colonial interest finally
decides to leave the territory it has raped and ruined. European ideas of race
and division are left behind, transforming territories of people and
communities. New local government struggles to satisfy native tradition as well
as new thoughts of Euro thought, and corruption and greed patterned after
previous invaders pervades business and politics.
On an international level, this type of chaos in developing
countries does no one any good. Trade cannot be ethically achieved, external
energy and time is consumed in taming unrest and violence, and the potential
for idea and thought exchange is dampened by having to worry about survival.
Think of the idea development and technology that could be coming out of a
place like the C.A.R. were it not for armed vigilantes and squandering
governments!
sources: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43735333, https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/34412/Egyptian-UN-peacekeeper-killed-in-Central-African-Republic
