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'Missing' Rwandan refugees spotted in Zaire
Westward path is taking them away from Rwanda
December 6, 1996
Web posted at: 11:15 a.m. EST (1615 GMT)In this story:
- 'Tidal wave' of refugees
- 'Dying on the road'
- Outside help, needed, or not?
- Related stories and sites
EASTERN ZAIRE (CNN) -- Between 100,000 and 400,000 Rwandan refugees, some weakened by malaria, are trekking northwest -- away from Rwanda -- through eastern Zaire in a column many miles long, an aid agency said on Friday.
Separately, the World Health Organization said 30 people died from an outbreak of cholera in eastern Zaire and in a Rwanda transit camp since November, among 1,220 confirmed cases. But a spokesman for the U.N. health agency said the situation was now under control.
"There are now more than 100,000 (refugees) at Walikale and the column extends 180 miles (300 km)," said Nicholas Louis of the medical charity Doctors without Borders, speaking by telephone from Kisangani in northeast Zaire.
At one stage the refugees had been flowing into Walikale, 60 miles (100 km) west of the Rwandan border, at a rate of 20 a second.
"It was like a tidal wave and they are still pouring in, thousands upon thousands," said Louis, who is in radio contact with towns in the area.
He said that by Thursday morning a vanguard of about 1,500 refugees had staggered into the town of Lubutu, 110 miles (180 km) west of Walikale, on the road to Kisangani.
"Many of them are very weak and they are dying on the road. The biggest cause of death is malaria," said Louis, adding that the refugees were clearly some of those reported missing in eastern Zaire after rebels seized control of the area from the Zairian army in October.
Refugee camps containing 1.2 million people then broke up and more than 500,000 Rwandans went home. But reconnaissance flights managed to locate only a fraction of the remaining hundreds of thousands.
A small multinational force has gathered in the east African state of Uganda with a mission to find and help the refugees, but political obstacles have kept it from deploying.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Doug Young of Canada, the main contributing nation, said the force probably would not have to make food airdrops or intervene militarily in any major way.
"It doesn't look as though they (airdrops) are going to be required in any significant way because the NGOs (non- governmental organizations) are in that area on the border between Zaire and Rwanda," Young told reporters.
"I don't think at this stage it will require any major military intervention," he said. But Louis said the refugees were in dire need of assistance, especially food to help them on their way.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Zaire and rebels demand strict limits on aid - November 30, 1996
- Humanitarian mission to Zaire set to begin - November 29, 1996
Related sites:
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- U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
- Crisis in Zaire
- The Care Organization
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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