Since the time of independence Rwanda has had a number of so-called ethnic violence episodes. In most of the cases an instrumental use of violence from the central government to keep power through perpetuation of social divisions. Although historically ethnic violence was always kept inside the state, these episodes of violence pushed over the decades a large number of refugees out of Rwanda. The systematic genocide in 1994 caused a war that was spread into the Great Lakes Region due to the flow of refugees, particularly in former Zaire, starting a regional war that has not ended yet.