Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has intensified his accusations against Rwanda, issuing a scathing critique against decades of what he described as 'predatory aggression by Rwanda' on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While warning the international community of the consequences of inaction, Tshisekedi said that if the world "allows a country's borders to be violated in Africa by force, who will be next?"
He spoke at the just-ended Munich Security Conference (MSC), which took place from February 14 to 16. Experts at the conference shared President Tshisekedi's sentiments on the dire humanitarian consequences of the conflict, but suggested local solutions to the war.
"We see more and more suffering for civilians because of the protracted nature of these wars," Hichem Khadhraoui, Executive Director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) at the Hague, told DW.
"We need to start at the local level… the parties to the conflict need to speak to each other," Khadhraoui added.
A nation 'bathed in tears'
As he addressed a room full of global dignitaries and policymakers, President Tshisekedi invoked the deep suffering of his people.
"These men, women and children whose tears have bathed the soul of our country deserve more than a simple mention in international debates," he said, warning the leaders gathered that the conflict could trigger a regional crisis if left unresolved.
"Do not be complicit in the silence, history is watching us. If we leave things to develop, then that will have repercussions well beyond the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said.
For Khadhraoui, the insecurity challenge in eastern Congo is one of many that require urgent intervention.
"We have so many conflicts in the world today happening that don't have the needed attention from the world," he told DW.
But for some experts like Dr. Annette Weber, the European Union's Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, the existing conflicts require different strategies to resolve them. Weber told DW that a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with these conflicts will likely be unsuccessful.
"I think we always need to be very granular and specific. No country, no case is the same," Weber said, adding that, "for example, the terrible war we have seen in northern Ethiopia, three years ago, and if you're looking at the war in Sudan, it's very, different."
