Word: rwanda
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Hatreds rooted in a tribal past bloomed into butchery as the Bahutu of Rwanda set out to eliminate their former Watutsi masters. Poisoned arrows zipped through the Congo's Kwilu province in the latest chapter of that sad nation's four-year history. In the Sudan, black secessionists battled the Arab government of Dictator Ibrahim Abboud. And last week, in Gabon, mobs hurled stones and bottles at the French troops who had restored bold, autocratic President Leon Mba to power last month after an abortive, 42-hour coup...
...fled to neighboring Burundi, Uganda, and Tanganyika. The victory of the Parmehutu (Parti d'Emancipation des Hutu) in elections of October, 1961, further weakened the Tutsi's position. The Tutsi king, or Mwami, went into exile. The number of Tutsi refugees in surrounding territories doubled by July, 1962, when Rwanda and Burundi gained independence...
...Hutu have reason to hate the Tutsi. For years the Tutsi refused to share any power or to intermarry with the Hutu in Rwanda, while their fellow tribesmen in Burundi followed a more flexible policy. And last December, Tutsi refugees launched a futile attack on Rwanda, breaking an uneasy tribal peace. Thousands of Tutsi have been murdered in retaliation since Christmas, and thousands more have had to flee Rwanda...
There appears to be no way to stop the slaughter. Despite extensive contrary evidence, the Rwanda government denies that the Tutsi are being massacred. A five-man UN mission investigated Tutsi raids, but was unable to discover much; presumably, the Parmehutu officials in Rwanda were uncooperative. Assemblies of African states, preoccupied with military revolts in Uganda and Tanganyika, have been reluctant to intervene...
Clearly, there is no place for the Tutsi in Rwanda; their only hope lies in continued flight. But there may be little room for them eleswhere, as refugee camps grow more crowded. It is unlikely that the Tutsi can be absorbed easily into surrounding nations; the fertile Rift Valley in which they are situated is already the most densely populated area in Africa...