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Analysis of the Article
The Article, "Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Migration History Marked By Crises and Restrictions", deals with the past immigration and emigration in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The article begins talking about how Belgium took control of the country from 1885 to 1960 using it mostly for resources. After World War II, there was a large number of immigrants from Belgium that came to the DRC, ending with 89,000 on the eve of the DRC's independence. Soon after the DRC gained independence a mass exodus of Belgians occurred, who returned home. There was also many internally displaced due to different conflicts that had occurred. In the 1990's there was a series of large conflicts between the DRC and its surrounding countries. The DRC was forced to take a large number of refugees from neighboring country Rwanda, but militia groups from Rwanda began attacking the country. This led to a large war where 1.2 million people were internally displaced people. The economy was also in an awful position which led to more emigration. Refugee and emigration from the DRC since the early 1990's has increased dramatically, due to wars occurring in the country, and situations in other countries improving. There is not really a true number of immigrants and emigrants known, even a population, due to a census not being taken since 1984. Refugees have also come in from other African nations who were suffering through war, with large numbers from neighboring countries. Migrants from more advanced countries have also made the DRC their new home, especially the Chinese who recently signed a deal to operate a large number of mines in the country. Most of the emigrants from the country have gone to countries in Europe, France the most common, with the U.S and Canada as other large numbers. Large numbers of women and children have migrated to other countries from the DRC, a trend not seen in many other African nations. The future is mainly unknown for migration due to the unstable past the country has endured. This article deals with the migration unit that we learned about. As you have noticed there is much migration within the country, with many IDP's, immigrants, and emigrants.