Word: hutu
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...came into contact with this east African nation in the midst of a sixth grade geography bee. More recently, we have heard about the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis which has torn apart Rwanda since 1994. In addition, many of us are aware that over one million Hutu refugees fled to neighboring Zaire as a result of the insurrection. But how many of us are concerned about the bitter fighting that has commenced again this month...
Unfortunately, the latest crisis in the region seems to be less familiar and less newsworthy. The Zairian government, which sympathizes with the Tutsis, has attacked Hutu refugee camps within its borders, spurring a massive flight of sickly Hutus into the countryside. More than 500,000 refugees have walked hundreds of miles, attempting to return to Rwanda, already the most over-crowded country in Africa. And as the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis overflows into Zaire, the refugees' situation is rapidly deteriorating. Last month, U.N. officials touring the area visited a Zairian refugee camp with 400,000 inhabitants...
...walk around Cambridge, an atrocity taking place across the globe seems entirely obscure and remote. There are very few Hutu representatives on campus. Nor are there many Tutsis either, for that matter. As a result, the situation of the projected 1.1 million displaced refugees in this region remains Boston Globe front page news--at best. We read the story, sigh, and head straight for the sports, weather, living arts or business sections. After all, this news is important; it will inform us whether to wear a sweater to section, what time to attend a movie or how well our stocks...
...this infrastructure lent itself to genocide, which was systematically planned by the extremist Hutu government and was unwaveringly implemented by obedient local authorities. Now, paradoxically, the same community controls--and the mind-sets they evoke--may offer the possibility of peaceful reintegration. Last Wednesday, Odetta Mukandari returned to her village and found her house occupied by Mbangukira Kabagare, a 70-year-old Tutsi. Mukandari didn't confront Kabagare; she didn't even knock on the door. Instead she went to live with relatives. Later, when she met him in the street, she simply smiled politely. As for Kabagare, he explained...
Even with such compliance, however, 500,000 Hutu refugees will put a strain on the largely Tutsi Rwandan government. Its housing policy is quite clear: anyone occupying someone else's home is required to leave within 15 days of the owner's arrival. But most of those occupying others' houses are Tutsi who, like Kabagare, have nowhere else to go. The only solution is to build new homes, and the government is appealing to the international community, including the U.S., to send humanitarian aid instead of the 12,000 troops originally committed to rescue the Hutu in Zaire. Several hundred...