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There was a period of migration because of the huge economic problems there were happening at the time. The causes of this were the unestable politics that they had at the time.
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This was an economic crisis marked by high interest rates and inflation leads to strikes and riots.
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It began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. The war officially ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2002, violence has continued in many regions of the country, especially in the east. Zimbabwe was involved in this.
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Thousands of squatters, backed by the Mugabe regime, seize white-owned farms in a violent campaign.
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Finance Minister Simba Makoni warns of serious food shortages after the World Bank and the IMF cut aid because of the land seizures.
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Mugabe defeats Tsvangirai in presidential elections, called flawed and unfair by opposition and international observers.
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Tsvangirai is arrested and charged with trying to assassinate Mugabe and seize power.
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The U.S. labels Zimbabwe one the world's six "outposts of tyranny." ZANU-PF wins parliamentary elections and the majority needed to change the constitution. The U.N. estimates some 700,000 people are made homeless when the government launches a "clean-up" program and destroys shanty towns.
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Tsvangirai's MDC claims victory in presidential elections, but he didn't win by majority of votes, so he must face Mugabe in a run-off. Tsvangirai pulls out of the run-off due to alleged intimidation and Mugabe wins the presidency. Tsvangirai and Mugabe sign a power sharing agreement but it stalls.
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Mugabe again wins the presidential elections, rejected as fraudulent by the MDC.