RWANDA: REFUGEES STILL ON THE MOVE

Описание: (26 Apr 1995) English/Nat

Rwanda's Vice-President said Wednesday his troops acted in self-defence at the Kibeho camp where the U-N says around 2,000 Hutus were slaughtered last Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Hutus are still on the move after being forced out of the camp in the south-west of the country.

They have survived the killing fields of Kibeho and now they're on their way home.

But this was no willing return: It's a forced march.

Rwandan soldiers literally pushing and prodding the refugees back to their communes.

The army's actions in the massacre at Kibeho have attracted international condemnation, but today (Wednesday) Rwanda's Vice-President told APTV he thought his soldiers had acted with justification.

SOUNDBITE:
"To the best of my knowledge, the troops acted appropriately when it came to a situation where they were confronted with a force that was moving to them, armed, they had to act in self-defence."
SUPER CAPTION: Paul Kagame, Rwandan Vice-President

But those Rwandans who cannot defend themselves are still arriving daily at medical centres. Most are too scared to say who attacked them.

SOUNDBITE:
"It seems that some have been harassed in the camps by the extremist militia who are trying to avoid the camps being closed by holding the people and forcing them to stay inside the camp."
SUPER CAPTION: Olivier Braunsteffer, Medicins du Monde

Repatriating these people is an uphill struggle. Few want to return home, most fear reprisals when they do.

The Rwandan government appears to have made no preparations for their return even though they knew closing camps like Kibeho was going to create another human tide.

The Red Cross and other aid agencies are now bearing the brunt: For every eager youngster receiving humanitarian aid, another is going hungry.

SOUNDBITE:
"Most of them haven't had food since five days, nor water since three days."
SUPER CAPTION: Doris Klessner, U-N-H-C-R

Bringing a semblance of order to this chaos is straining the U-N's capabilities and, at times, the patience of its soldiers.

The result is that tens of thousands of people are still caught up in a turmoil that was not of their making.

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