Diplomacy alone won't stop Rwanda stoking war in Congo

Goma, a city of 1.5 million in Eastern Congo, has fallen to the M23 rebels, openly backed by Rwanda. Foreign governments are calling for the rebels to withdraw, and the UN Security Council has been holding crisis talks, but this is not the time to stop at diplomatic gestures: maximum pressure must be applied on Kigali immediately to shut this conflict down. Anything less risks repeating the horrors of the Second Congo War.

Between 1998 and 2003, over five million people died, countless families were shattered and entire communities were erased in the world’s deadliest conflict since the second world war. The Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation the size of Western Europe, became a battleground for nine countries, displacing millions and leaving a scar that has yet to heal. The fall of Goma is a warning of what’s to come if decisive action is not taken now.