Information Update on Eastern Zaire and Central Africa No 8

Please note that this will be the last Oxfam UK/I Information Update on central Africa in 1996. Hopefully the next one will appaer in the first days of 1997.
Note : in the parts of this report referring to the external context and the programme, "Oxfam" refers to OUK/I, as the lead Oxfam for this emergency. In other parts, different members of Oxfam International are referred to distinctly.

Context / In brief

Following the Tanzanian Government's assertion that all Rwandan refugees should be repatriated by the 31 December, a mass movement of refugees started from camps in Northern Tanzania towards the interior of Tanzania on the 12 December. However, by the 13th these refugees had turned back towards the camps and many thousands are repatriating to Rwanda. Despite continuing small-scale repatriation of Rwandan refugees from Zaire there is still scarce information on the situation and (confirmed) numbers of refugees / displaced in eastern Zaire, and in particular, south Kivu. The situation in Uganda is becoming increasingly tense with inter-factional cross-border fighting continuing. It is reported that LRA rebels have left Uganda for Sudan with up to 300 hostages. In Burundi there are unconfirmed reports of killings and further fighting between rebels and Government forces and massacres in Kayanza province. The political relationships between all states remains tense despite a further meeting of Governments in Nairobi over the last few days.

Tanzania

Following the Tanzanian Government's assertion that all Rwandan refugees should be repatriated by the 31 December some 300 000 refugees (according to UNHCR) left Ngara and Benaco camps (including Kitali, Kesa, Kagenyi, Rubwera, Benaco, Lumasi and Masuhura) on the 11 and 12 of December and headed into the interior of the country reportedly towards the borders with Kenya and Malawi. However, by the 13th they turned back towards the Rwandan border.

The catalyst for the movement is not clear: Some reports claim that extremists in the camps were encouraging the refugees to avoid repatriation although Oxfam staff believe that the deployment of troops around the camps and the visit of senior Rwandan officials were probably more significant reasons. The security forces reportedly also prompted the "U-turn" and also prevented some refugees from re- entering the camps turning them back towards the border with Rwanda. There are reports of the refugees undertaking the return despite expressing great fear about what awaits them inside Rwanda.

Oxfam UK/I on 17/12/96 put out a Policy Update on the return of the refugees from Tanzania. It expressed concern that the mass repatriation should not further violate the rights of refugees or escalate the conflict in the region. The evidence received from Oxfam International staff on the ground is that the repatriation is being guided by the Tanzanian army with restraint. However, we are concerned that humanitarian agencies have been prevented from providing full assistance to returnees, and that the speed of the return prevents reasonable care to respect refugees' basic rights.

As of 18 December reportedly 325 000 refugees had returned to Rwanda via Rusumo some of whom were welcomed by President Pasteur Bizimungu. While the flow over the Rusumo bridge into Rwanda has slowed from 100 000 a day to maybe 30 000, there are long columns along the 100 km stretch coming from the southern camps of the Ngara area. It is still rumoured, however, that up to 100 000 refugees (according to WFP) may be scattered or in groups in the interior of Tanzania. Who they are and where they are heading is not clear.

On 20/12/96 the Tanzanian forces closed the camps in Karagwe, and the residents of those camps are undertaking the nearly 200 km walk to the Rusumo border crossing. There are some trucks available for the weak and vulnerable, but the majority will have to walk. WFP provided a two-week ration of maizemeal and a week's ration of oil two days ago. So far Oxfam has prepared three tanks at 30 Km intervals along the 160 km road from Karagwe to the first tank in the Ngara area.

In summary, the Tanzanian authorities will probably succeed to a great degree in getting the Rwandan refugees repatriated by the end of 1996 as they planned. Some 538 000 in total of the approximately 750 000 refugees in Tanzania were from Rwanda with over 410 000 of the Rwandans resident in Ngara region. The remainder are Burundians, many in camps further south (Kibondo, Kasulu and Kigoma areas); it is thought that the remaining Burundian refugees from the Ngara area, some 68 000, will be located in one camp, probably Lokole.

Oxfam has been working where it can within Tanzania. On the 13 December no NGOs were allowed into the camps but by the 14th some returning refugees had re-entered the Benaco camps and Oxfam was allowed in to run the water systems to allow refugees to fill up their water containers etc. By the 15th Benaco was empty and all agencies were denied access to the camp. Oxfam had set up way-stations - two in Benaco, one 10 km on at Rusumo prison, and one at the border. Throughout the 15th despite some difficulties (including a decree that NGOs should cease work) Oxfam dispensed water along the road to the border from two tankers that moved up and down the road all day. Oxfam has also set up way-stations and has sent tankers along the road to meet people walking from Kesa and Kitali hills camps.

The Tanzanian authorities have now allowed NGOs to work again from 19/12/96. In a report of the 17th our staff in Tanzania reported that much work will be needed on sanitation work on the route between Benaco to the border, along which some half a million people will have passed on foot. This work will mainly involve liming.

Rwanda

Those refugees who have returned via the Birenga transit centre in Kibungo prefecture are being trucked towards their home communes. However, information is difficult to come by as access along the 60 km road from Kibungo town to the Tanzanian border has been restricted and Oxfam along with many other NGOs and Agencies have not been allowed to operate the way-stations which were set up in anticipation of the return.

However, preparation of 8 water points on the road north of Kibungo and sanitation teams being co-ordinated by Oxfam are reported to be coping well with the flow of refugees. Refugees are arriving in the communes in small numbers; Oxfam is supplying water at four open relief centres where refugees are dropped to rest for some hours, or over night, before they make the journey on to their homes. In addition Oxfam is working in 39 resettlement sites, in four of the ten communes of Kibungo.

The following weeks will be a busy time as agencies try to assess and meet the varying needs of the returnees as well as those families who will be displaced as they vacate houses belonging to those returning. These needs are likely to centre on needs such as immediate shelter provision, food, health care, seeds and tools, and warm clothing. Oxfam is already committed to working in five communes in Kibungo prefecture, from where over half the returnees originally came.

There is still a small flow of refugees, between 800 and 1000 a day, returning to Rwanda from North Kivu via Gisenyi. They are normally collected at various points along the northern and western axes out of Goma and bussed to the border. Their condition is often not good, as they have usually spent a long time in the hinterland.

The easing of Rwanda's security problems following the emptying of the camps in eastern Zaire will be mirrored by a possible increase in tensions inside the country. Rwanda appealed for $740 million to help to resettle the returnees, and, it was announced last week, will receive some $500 million following a meeting of donor countries in Kigali.

The first trial of two accused genocidaires will start in Kigali on December 30th, to be followed by another 4 cases early in 1997. The Rwandan authorities recently published a list of 2000 people suspected of genocide or crimes against humanity.

Zaire

IRIN recently reported that there are up to 500 000 people on the move in eastern Zaire heading westwards in the regions of Kindu, Lubutu, Walikale and Shabunda ahead of the ADFL advance in the same direction. There are reports of up to 100 000 Rwandan and Burundi refugees in the Shabunda area of Zaire and there are yet further reports of around 300 000 people between Walikale and Lubutu. WFP reported Rwandan and Burundian refugees arrived in Lubutu; they say that adults are often in fair condition, but that children are often severely dehydrated and affected by the first signs of malnutrition; malnutrition can take weeks to set in, and has probably been staved off by the consumption of wild foods along the way. Children will of course be the first usually to fall prey to malnutrition. Malaria is also rampant. It is also reported that the original population of Lubutu has left and that 90 000 displaced ex-FAR and Interahamwe have moved in. In general more and more reports are confirming what Oxfam has been saying for some weeks now about the numbers of refugees and displaced in the areas west of Bukavu and Goma, and further to the north-west. The first pictures of some of these people appeared on British television earlier this week. UN sources say the Zairian military were blocking the refugee advance some 200 km east of Kisangani near Lubutu and some 200 Km east of Kindu near Shabunda. The Zairean government has refused to allow the displaced to set up camps, and consequently no agencies can provide services for them. Although many are still in sometimes quite large groups, others have scattered amongst the local population. The Shabundu and Lubutu areas are those from which the firmest news is now coming out, and conditions are often reported as critical.

There are still, it appears, many refugees hiding in the Virunga Park area north and north-west of Goma. Local settlements in some of these areas are reported to be almost totally empty of the local population, who, in their displacement, are said to be in rapidly deteriorating condition. UNHCR has managed to transport some of them to their homes, although many more remain on the move, depending on ethnic tensions and sporadic conflicts.

There are reports that some aid is now beginning to get through to some of the refugee populations via Kisangani, which is reported as calm. Other reports say that the population of the Kisangani area, which is about 600 000, are very short of food and other basic supplies, and that the occasional aid flight will not do much to help. FAZ soldiers are also apparently hungry.

It is certainly not the case that things are calm in other areas of the area. Fighting continues between ADFL and other factions such as FAR and militia just north of Goma. This is despite the ADFL calling a unilateral cease-fire last week while urging the Zairian Government to enter negotiations; the Zairean government has rejected this, and is taking a strong public line, particularly since the return of Mobutu to Kinshasa.. The ADFL now control a swathe of Zaire stretching maybe as much as 500 miles, as far north as Kasindi and as far south and west as the East Kasai region but their uncharacteristic silence over the last few days would seem to suggest they are meeting tougher resistance from a reportedly "strengthened" FAZ. The reinforcements are reported to be UNITA troops from Angola - whom Mobutu has consistently backed and helped for many years - Moroccan troops, and maybe others too. There is great fear at the prospect that the FAZ and others will return to the currently rebel-held parts of Kivu, and Reuters has reported hundreds of residents of Goma fleeing in possible anticipation of this eventuality. However reports of exactly where the fighting is vary so much that it would appear to indicate that there is no clear front line at all.

Oxfam's local staff in Goma are beginning to report on conditions in the areas around Goma, and report, for example, the loss of nearly all of the 450 000 head of livestock that used to be held, and devastated agriculture. Reports and suspicions of abuse of human rights in the rebel-held areas of Kivu continue, although they have been strongly denied by the rebels themselves.

Oxfam's work in Kivu is still suspended although our Zairian staff in Goma are still working hard undertaking water and sanitation work (through 16 water points and advisory work) as well as cleaning up 57 schools so that they can be reopened and we have also undertaken the construction of a small cholera isolation ward in the hospital. Oxfam is also currently decommissioning and putting back into store water equipment from Mugunga and Lac Vert camps. Some of this equipment had been looted but over 21 km of pipe has been recovered and stored for future use.

Further south, there has for the first time been access for humanitarian workers to Uvira, and according to one local report, the border with Burundi is sometimes open. Those who visited the town say that life is beginning to return to some normality, although all agreed that it is premature to set up permanent bases there yet, and negotiations for an aid corridor through Bujumbura are in process.

We now have direct news that all but one of the ex-Oxfam staff in Uvira and their families are safe.

The military mutiny in the Central African Republic, on Zaire's northern border, reported in the last Information Update, appears now to be over.

Uganda

There have been very heavy clashes between Zaire-based Ugandan rebels and Ugandan troops in the Ruwenzori mountains on the Uganda-Zaire border, involving around 1000 Government soldiers and 500 ADF rebels. These rebels have been forced into the mountains by the ADFL in Zaire. The rebel's persistent shelling of the area caused the Ugandan army to cross the border to destroy the bases which precipitated the ADFL to take the region. In the north the army has been involved in fighting with the LRA who have now moved across the border with Sudan with up to 300 hostages abducted in the past few weeks. Relations between Zaire and Uganda remain formal but strained as do the relations between Sudan and Uganda who both accuse each other of harbouring "rebel" factions aiming to topple their respective Governments.(ADF (reportedly supported by Sudan ) and Sudan People's Liberation Army (reportedly supported by Uganda)). Iranian-sponsored peace talks between Sudan and Uganda, due to take place this week, have now been postponed till January

There are also reports from the IFRCS of refugees from the Rubwera and Karagere camps in Tanzania that refugees who did not want to return to Rwanda are arriving in Orukinga camp in the Mbarara area at the rate of 500 a day. Many have been turned away but around 2 000 refugees have crossed, some crossing the Kagera river under the cover of night. Uganda's position is not to grant them asylum; meanwhile UNHCR is temporarily assisting them.

Oxfam's programme in the country continues in an advisory capacity with the loan of equipment to IFRCS. Further assessments are pending as are possible further programme initiatives. We have the first hints that conditions around the Ikafe settlements may be calming down a bit, and we may be able to resume some work there, but optimism is very cautious.

Burundi

Efforts continue to reintegrate the approximately 59 000 Burundian refugees who have returned from eastern Zaire. In general some half of the Burundian refugees in Zaire have returned since early November, although the number of returnees has slowed now to a trickle. Relations between Tanzania and Burundi remain extremely tense with both sides expecting each other to launch an attack. Burundi is also bracing itself for the possible return of a further 190 000 people, if the Tanzanian Government reverses its decision not to forcefully repatriate the refugees. The repatriation that has already taken place into a country in the throes of a civil war has already set up dilemmas for the humanitarian community; further returns and the closing of an escape route, would only exacerbate it for all concerted. Access for the international community to returnees cannot be assured, and occurs within the context of humanitarian agencies being accused of providing more aid to returnees than affected populations in the country, for example the unknown numbers of those displaced by the violence since the coup of October 1993. It is however essential to note that the needs of both groups are different and require different kinds of humanitarian intervention.

Unpredictability is the constant factor in the unrest inside Burundi. Ruyigi, for example, was considered relatively stable until last month, when some 60-70 000 people fled to Tanzania to escape heavy fighting. There have been further reports of killings. In the area south of Rukago and east of Musema in Kayanza province 400 people were allegedly killed by a mob including military and civilian personnel; there have been reports of 107 people killed in a church in Butaganzwa; on the 30 November armed persons attacked the Johnson centre in Bujumbura killing four and injuring others; 25 people were killed in a camp in Bubanza province during fighting; and according to DHA's humanitarian unit, 23 people in Gashoho prison Muyinga were killed by their guards. Burundi on Saturday expressed surprise over a UN human rights report which said over 1000 people had been killed in just one month in the country, mostly by government forces.

Burundi has received support from some countries in its campaign to get sanctions lifted. During the Congo summit President Buyoya argued that long term peace would be impossible with Burundi's continued isolation. This was followed by a communication from the leaders at the conference for the sanctions to be lifted. Tanzania and Kenya both ardently support the sanctions against Burundi. The recent conference in Nairobi also got no further with this.

There is also some concern over the Burundian initiative to launch a "villagisation" programme which while not creating new camps will certainly force people to create a type of community which is alien to Burundi society. Since earlier this summer, the government has regrouped some 40 000 people into camps in Karuzi Province; those who refuse to move may be treated as hostile. While the government justifies the policy as a means of protecting civilian populations, the strategy remains questionable as an act of humanitarian goodwill.

Oxfam's emergency programme in Bujumbura continues although this is constrained by the security situation. However, water for an extra 10 000 people (in addition to the ongoing emergency programme) has been set up in the Johnson Centre in the city.

Diplomatic / political update

President Mobutu returned to Zaire on Tuesday to face a divided country and strained diplomatic relations with most of its neighbours including Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Zaire and Burundi did not attend the recent meeting in Nairobi to discuss the crisis. Attendees included Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and OAU Secretary general Salim Ahmed Salim.

The President's returning speech seemed emotional but unambiguous leaving his real intention unclear. The combination of Mobutu's return and rumours that ADFLs forces are meeting resistance have spread a sense of fear in Goma with many leaving and returning to their villages. There is a fear of punitive attacks if FAZ reclaims Kivu and this could precipitate an exodus to Rwanda or Uganda. All this is however, speculative.

The 14 nation steering committee which met in New York last week decided to wind up the mission of the Canadian -led Multi-National Force by the end of this month. The Canadian Government has been quoted as saying the force had served as a catalyst for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees to Rwanda.

In the UK and Ireland

Oxfam UK and Ireland's appeal is ongoing although is much scaled down in view of the poor media coverage in the British and Irish media, and the current reduced possibilities for expanded programmes in Zaire. So far L1.7 million has been pledged by Governments and International Oxfam's and L235 000 has been estimated in response to the appeal via the shops in the UK and Ireland. The total from newspaper advertisements so far stands at L 156 000 (net) . These totals are likely to change as more information is received from donors and the regions. The media and campaigning response continues to be reactive rather that proactive at the current time; a major review of Oxfam UK and Ireland's policy in the field and through advocacy is underway.

Logistical information

Oxfam currently has the following staff in the region:

The following is the total of grants made so far:

Report prepared by Andy McCoubrey and Maurice Herson

Abbreviations:
ADFL - Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire
CNDD- National Council for the Defence of Democracy
LRA - Lord+s Resistance Army
ADF - Allied Democratic Force
OAU Organisation of African Unity
IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network (of the DHA)
DHA - Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the UN
IFRCS - International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
WFP - World Food Programme of the United Nations
UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
OUK/I - Oxfam United Kingdom and Ireland
FAR - former Rwandan army
FAZ - Armed Forces of Zaire