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DR Congo

Zaire refugee movement

DATE=10/27/96
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-205190
TITLE=ZAIRE REFUGEE MOVEMENT (L)
BYLINE=SONYA LAURENCE GREEN
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: MORE AID WORKERS AND FOREIGN NATIONALS WERE EVACUATED FROM THE EASTERN ZAIREAN TOWNS OF BUKAVU AND GOMA SUNDAY, AS FIGHTING BETWEEN GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS AND ETHNIC TUTSI REBELS CONTINUED. THE FIGHTING HAS UPROOTED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES, NOW HEADED IN ALL DIRECTIONS AND RUNNING SHORT OF SUPPLIES. SONYA LAURENCE GREEN REPORTS ON THE CONTINUING CRISIS.

TEXT: FOREIGN DIPLOMATS AND CIVILIANS FLEW OUT OF THE TROUBLED ZAIREAN TOWN OF BUKAVU SUNDAY, FOLLOWING THE EVACUATION OF 128 AID WORKERS LATE SATURDAY. FURTHER NORTH IN THE TOWN OF GOMA, 18 AID WORKERS ALSO MANAGED TO FLY OUT AFTER A TEMPORARY AIRPORT CLOSURE. SMALL GROUPS OF AID WORKERS HAVE BEEN LEAVING GOMA ALL WEEK. ONLY ABOUT 100 INTERNATIONAL STAFF ARE LEFT NEAR GOMA, TRYING TO COPE WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES NOW ON THE MOVE.

MORE AND MORE REFUGEES ARE ABANDONING THEIR CAMPS IN PANIC AS FIGHTING BETWEEN ZAIREAN TROOPS AND ETHNIC TUTSIS -- KNOWN AS THE "BANYAMULENGE" -- INTENSIFIES. THE CONFLICT IS RAGING ALONG A 200-KILOMETER CORRIDOR IN EASTERN ZAIRE THAT STRETCHES FROM THE REBEL-HELD TOWN OF UVIRA IN THE SOUTH, NORTH TO THE AREA AROUND GOMA.

ON SUNDAY MORNING, REBELS ATTACKED A SECOND REFUGEE CAMP NEAR GOMA -- "KATALE" CAMP -- KILLING ONE ZAIREAN SOLDIER AND WOUNDING THREE OTHERS BEFORE BEING DRIVEN BACK. THEY SHELLED NEARBY KIBUMBA CAMP SATURDAY, KILLING AT LEAST FOUR PEOPLE AND SETTING OFF A STAMPEDE OF 200,000 REFUGEES TOWARD GOMA TOWN. REFUGEES SAID THE ATTACKS CAME FROM THE DIRECTION OF THE RWANDAN BORDER.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ZAIREANS HAVE ALSO FLED THEIR VILLAGES, MIXING IN WITH THE SEA OF REFUGEES ALREADY ON THE MOVE. A SPOKESMAN FOR THE U-N REFUGEE AGENCY, PETER KESSLER, SAID THERE ARE FEARS THE REFUGEES WILL SOON RUN OUT OF FOOD AND WATER.

MR. KESSLER SAID THE U-N WAS USING LOUDSPEAKERS TO ENCOURAGE REFUGEES TO RETURN HOME TO RWANDA. UP TO 10-THOUSAND REFUGEES AND ZAIREANS DID CROSS INTO RWANDA AT THE "MUTURA" BORDER POINT NEAR GOMA -- BUT THAT REPRESENTS ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THE ONE-MILLION RWANDAN REFUGEES STILL LIVING IN EASTERN ZAIRE.

THE REFUGEES ARE MOSTLY ETHNIC HUTUS AND THEY DON'T WANT TO GO HOME. MANY OF THEM PARTICIPATED IN RWANDA'S 1994 GENOCIDE, IN WHICH UP TO A MILLION PEOPLE -- MOSTLY ETHNIC TUTSIS -- WERE KILLED. NOW THEY FEAR REPRISALS FROM THE TUTSI-LED GOVERNMENT IN RWANDA.

THE FIERCE HUTU-TUTSI CONFLICT THAT HAS TORN THROUGH RWANDA AND BURUNDI HAS NOW BEEN UNLEASHED IN ZAIRE, AND THREATENS TO GROW INTO A REGIONAL DISASTER. ZAIRE ACCUSES RWANDA AND BURUNDI OF BACKING THE ZAIREAN TUTSI REBELS -- A CHARGE BOTH COUNTRIES DENY.

NEVERTHELESS, TENSION BETWEEN ZAIRE AND RWANDA RUNS HIGH. THE RWANDAN GOVERNMENT IN A RADIO BROADCAST SUNDAY ACCUSED ZAIRE OF ORDERING ATTACKS ON RWANDAN STUDENTS IN ZAIRE'S CAPITAL, AND OF HARASSING TWO DIPLOMATS. IT SAID 40 RWANDAN STUDENTS HAVE ALSO BEEN PREVENTED FROM FLYING HOME. (SIGNED)

NEB/SLG/PCF/SD

27-Oct-96 10:27 AM EST (1527 UTC)
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