Title: Eastern Zaire Situation is 'Precarious"
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 6, 1996
EASTERN ZAIRE SITUATION IS 'PRECARIOUS'
96-25-074-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "By all indications a severe human
catastrophe is now unfolding in the closed off parts of Eastern
Zaire," according to Action by Churches Together (ACT). ACT
describes the situation for 1.5 million people in Eastern Zaire
as 'precarious.' ACT is a worldwide network of churches,
including the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), meeting human need
through coordinated emergency response.
"I'm afraid a lot of people are going to die in Eastern
Zaire over the next week, and there is very little, if anything,
we can do about it," said Richard Oaten from Nairobi, Kenya.
Oaten is a member of the LWF staff responsible for coordinating
refugee camps around Goma for ACT. He evacuated to Nairobi along
with 86 international aid workers and a number of others who left
Goma Nov. 2.
According to ACT, Oaten is "extremely worried" about the
situation of more than one million refugees and civilian Zairians
without humanitarian assistance in the war zone of Eastern Zaire.
Prior to the evacuation, churches and agencies in the region
were preparing staff, supplies and transportation for
humanitarian response to the needs of refugees and displaced
persons once the security situation in Eastern Zaire improved.
When the aid workers left the area, the attacking forces had
control of the entire route out of Goma and into Rwanda. The 55-
vehicle convoy drove to safety at the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
From there the majority were airlifted to Nairobi.
Since mid-September, events in Eastern Zaire have developed
into open warfare between the Zaire military and the ethnic Tutsi
people of Zaire known as Banyamulenge. Observers in the region
are alarmed at seeing a minor conflict escalate into major
fighting.
"We have absolutely no idea of the situation of
approximately 400,000 refugees and displaced Zairians at Mugunga
and Lac Vert camps," reported one ACT staff member in Goma. He
added, "Even less is known about the fate of the 314,000 refugees
who are reported to have left or are still trying to leave the
northern most camps of Kahindo and Katale some 60 kilometers
north of Goma.
ACT personnel expressed concern about more than 200 local
ACT-related staff in Goma and the refugee camps. "We have reason
to believe that a big part of the staff is in relative safety
further north at the Ugandan border, but we still need
confirmation of that. As to the 18 Zairian staff members in Goma
their situation is unknown," says Oaten. There is no confirmed
information about staff remaining in the Bukavu area.
ACT personnel in Goma witnessed the looting and destruction
of offices of various relief agencies. One ACT staff member
said, "I guess our houses will be on the menu."
According to ACT, no one knows what humanitarian agencies
will face when they are able to gain access to the enormous
roving populations in the stretch of Zaire running from Katale
and Kahindo in the north, through Goma and the Bukavu areas,
south to the towns, villages and former refugee camps at Uvira.
The Rwandan (and some Burundian) refugees in Eastern Zaire alone
number approximately 1.1 million. Both Bukavu and Goma had
civilian populations of 250,000 to 300,000 people.
ACT's partners in the region are "extremely concerned" about
the situation of the refugees, but they, like other humanitarian
agencies, can only "observe the situation and raise resources."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has pledged $100,000
toward the $1.8 million ACT has requested for an Eastern Zaire
Emergency Appeal.
LWF has stocked emergency supplies for up to 250,000 people
in a warehouse in Kigali, Rwanda. In both Uganda and Kenya ACT's
partners are actively stockpiling relief items, and ACT is
monitoring by air the situation west of Bukavu. The LWF is a
worldwide communion of 122 member churches, including the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Oaten spent his last two days in Goma with other
international aid workers in two United Nations houses on the
shore of Lake Kivu. Even in that compound there was only
relative safety. "On Friday a car with Zairian soldiers crashed
through our gates, and the four soldiers in the car were killed
by pursuing forces," Oaten said.
"Earlier the same day the Zairians fired heavy guns from or
very nearby our compound, and this attracted fire from a Rwandan
gunboat on the lake. Luckily only the buildings were hit. On
Sunday morning, just an hour before we finally left, rockets were
fired at the houses from the Zairian side. It seemed to us that
the rockets were aimed specifically at us, but they had aimed too
high, and the rockets exploded above the buildings. Still -- it
was a very frightening experience," Oaten said.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312)
380-2958 or [log in to unmask]; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312)
380-2955 or [log in to unmask]
