Rwandan refugees used as pawns by old regime
By Zanny Begg
On October 24 officials of the former ruling party in Rwanda, the Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND), and its military wing the interahamwe, took control of the largest refugee camp in Zaire.
The former officials of the MRND, which orchestrated the horrific massacres earlier this year, have taken control of food distribution in the Katale camp. Aid organisations stationed in the area claim that food and other materials are being diverted from those most in need and distributed amongst a clique of the old rulers of Rwanda.
Despite plentiful supplies, the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres estimates that 44% of the refugees in the camps are undernourished.
The former regime is believed to be stockpiling food and other materials to prepare for war against the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which took control of the capital after the slaughter in April.
In the refugee camps the old military officials are still armed and have used their weapons to intimidate refugees wanting to return home. Two hundred thousand people are still in refugee camps in Zaire. Around 50,000 people have died from cholera and dysentery in the camps.
Observers are worried that the thousands of people being held in the camps are going to be used as a bargaining chip by the old regime for power sharing in Rwanda.
The UN seems to be ignoring this, however. It is reported to be accepting members of the old regime as representatives of the refugees despite evidence of their involvement in harassment and intimidation in the camps.
Around 30,000 MRND soldiers are camped near Goma, in Zaire, where it is reported weapons are hidden. Their commander has said that if the RPF refuses to share power with the MRND, they will invade.
The military strength of the defeated interahamwe should come as no surprise. Prior to the events in April the French government consistently supported the ruling party. In 1990 and again in 1993 France intervened in Rwanda to halt RPF invasions. It provided missiles to the regime and maintained a close diplomatic relationship.
When the French troops landed in April, they provided a de facto safe area for the MRND, and made no attempt to disarm those who organised the massacres as they escaped into refugee camps in Zaire.
The French also failed to shut down the violently anti-Tutsi radio station Radio Mille Collines, which called on Hutus to kill Tutsis and gave false reports on the actions of the RPF.