There has been a lot of comparison recently between the current refugee crisis in the Middle East to the plight of refugees during World War II. The twentieth century had another major crisis that is often overlooked, however: the flight of refugees from Rwanda and the Congo during the mid-1990s. This crisis produced more refugees than any event since World War II, and they trekked through some of the thickest jungle on Earth to escape violence and advancing armies. Join Katie and Averill as they discuss the plight of these Central African refugees. It’s a story that has echoes through to today.
Rwandan refugee camp in eastern Zaire, 1994, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Show Notes and Further Reading
David van Reybrouck, Congo: The Epic History of a People, Harper Collins, 2014
Jason Stearns, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, PublicAffairs, 2012
The Borgen Project, “Ten Facts About Democratic Republic of the Congo Refugees”
European Resettlement Network, “Congolese Refugees”
Frontline, Ghosts of Rwanda, Interview with Alison des Forges
Alison des Forges, Leave None to Tell the Story, 1999
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