(15 Feb 1995) English/Nat
An international conference opened in Burundi Wednesday to discuss how to restore stability to Rwanda after last year's massacres that claimed more than half a (m) million lives.
Topping the conference agenda is the refugee crisis - more than two (m) million Rwandans are still living as refugees in central and eastern Africa.
APTV has been to two camps near Ngozi in Burundi, a country that is now home to 200-thousand Rwandans.
This is Magara, the largest refugee camp in Burundi which has become a home for 40-thousand Rwandan Hutus.
They fled across the border last year to escape the civil war in which half a million people were killed.
Claudine arrived in Magara 10 months ago with her husband and daughter.
She told APTV she would only go back home when other refugees in Zaire feel it was safe.
Over a million refugees fled from Rwanda to Zaire, where camps are dominated by former army and militia gunmen.
The latter have killed or threatened refugees who want to go home, hoping to deny population and legitimacy to the new government in Rwanda.
As a result, the refugees in Zaire are simply too scared to leave, a fear that has spread to other refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
SOUNDBITE:
"You have the leaders and we have the rest of the refugees, normal population if we can say that. And apparently there is a kind of pressure coming from the leaders to the normal population, the refugees".
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Mady Piallo - Medecins Sans Frontieres
Security in the camps and repatriating the refugees are the two main issues that will be discussed at the conference in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura.
The United Nations has warned that if no progress is made at the summit, it may not be able to cope with the refugee crisis.
At Magara, aid workers are at full stretch.
Every day there are more mouths to feed.
Eight-thousand children have been born here.
This is the latest arrival, a little girl, just eight hours old.
SOUNDBITE:
"I hope some kind of security for the refugees when they arrive in Rwanda will be guaranteed out of this conference. And I would hope that both governments will come to an agreement in having a peaceful solution in Rwanda".
SUPER CAPTION: Melesse Tegegne - spokesman United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Acres of forest have been cleared to supply firewood for the refugees.
Their presence has pushed up the price of food.
There are seven refugee camps in Burundi, a burden on the country and on the aid agencies.
SOUNDBITE:
"It is very difficult to imagine that the world community, the international community, can sustain this assistance effort for a very long period of time. Therefore the search for solutions that will enable people to return to their homes we find crucial, therefore this conference is so important".
SUPER CAPTION: Mandel de Almeida e Silva - spokesman United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (U-N-H-C-R)
Solutions are needed but not just for the Rwandan refugees.
Many Burundis suffered a similar fate - becoming refugees within their own country, where 100-thousand people have died in fighting between the rival Tutsi and Hutu tribes.
It is clear that until there is an end to the political turmoil in Burundi and in Rwanda, the refugee problem won't be solved, and the refugees won't go home.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
