December 9,1996

By virtue of the General Assembly Resolution nº428(V) of 14 December 1950, UNHCR was given the duty of providing international protection to refugees who fall under the scope of its statute( chap1(1)).

Chapter II 8(a) of the same instrument goes on to state that the UNHCR shall provide protection to refugees falling under the competence of his office by..."supervising the application of international conventions for the protection of refugees".

With regard to Hutu refugees, it is disheartening to see how UNHCR has persistently colluded with hostile forces in denying them of their basic rights.

Since late 1995, RDR has denounced a UNHCR plan to forcefully repatriate refugees in total disregard of its own statute, the OAU Convention Governing the specific Aspects of refugee problems in Africa especially article IV and V and all existing international instruments dealing with the problem of refugees.

The response of UNHCR has invariably been to brandish RDR revelations as mere acts of intimidation and to order for the witch hunting of its members.

When the US administration repeatedly toed the line of the RPF government and demanded nothing less than the closure of the refugee camps, UNHCR simply shied away from its obligations. It shifted from its vocation of an entirely non-political entity as per chapter 1(1) of its statute, to become a politically militant organisation. Ever since, instead of following the normal chain of command stipulated by chapter 1(3) of the statute, it received direct orders from some governments and corners whose sole interests is to consolidate the RPF illegal hold on power in Rwanda.

In her statement at the opening of the OAU/UNHCR Symposium on Refugees and the Problems of Forced Displacement of Populations in Africa in Addis-Ababa on 8th September 1994, HE Mrs SADAKO OGATA, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees declared unequivocally that today refugee problem cannot be treated in isolation from the political ,social and economic causes which give rise to them.

In the case of Hutu refugees, UNHCR seems to be interested in the only return home whatever the human price.

Hence, when the war broke out in Eastern Zaire, instead of condemning the attacks on refugee camps that were under UN protection, in violation of the Geneva Convention relating to the protection of Civilian Population it time of War, the UNHCR was not only the very first humanitarian agency to pull out, but also took advantage of the confusion to force refugee back home by way of starvation.

And when the first batch of starving refugees crossed into Rwanda, the UNHCR could not hide its excitement for a job well done; a testimony of a conspiracy in what befell refugees.

While the refugee tragedy in Eastern Zaire was still going on due to political manoeuvring of USA and RPF, the UNHCR was busy hatching another plot to forcefully repatriate other refugees from Tanzania.This was an indication that the plight of half a million refugees who bolted farther west in the zairian jungle was of no more concern to UNHCR.

At first, UNHCR claimed that according to its information, refugees were willing to return home voluntarily due to the "successful" operation in Eastern Zaire.

Later on UNHCR signed a joint communique with the Tanzanian government on the forced repatriation of those refugees and went on to give a deadline. How can UNHCR endorse a declaration that fundamentally violates its own statute? How can refugees trust it any more?

It is quite sad that the government of the United Republic of Tanzania, which had won so much praise from the refugees for its hospitality and had distinguished itself among african countries for its humanism, panafricanism and political independence should bend to external pressure and sacrifice at the altar of RPF interests and its sponsors , hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees.

The refugees may indeed be successfully kicked out of their camps by starvation, intimidation, or use of naked force, but this may not be the end of the crisis.

They are going back to uncertainty and instability and so long as the lack of confidence and trust that kept them in exile has not been boldly addressed. Instead of the beginning of the end of the crisis, as some circles may think , it may just be the beginning of new cycle of instability , and eventually a return to square one.

For RDR

Chris Nzabandora

Spokesman