- Title: BURUNDI : RWANDAN REFUGEES FLEE CAMPS IN BURUNDI
- Date: 30th March 1995
- Summary: NGOZI, BURUNDI (MARCH 30, 1995) (RTV - AVAILABLE ALL) 1. SV THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES CARRYING THEIR BELONGINGS UP VALLEY THROUGH BUSH 0.09 2. SV PEOPLE CARRYING BELONGINGS THROUGH TALL GRASS 0.27 3. SV CHILDREN CARRYING LARGE BUNDLES ON HEADS 0.37 4. SV FAMILIES WITH BELONGINGS WALKING ALONG 0.57 5. SV MOTHERS SITTING BY PAT
- Embargoed: 14th April 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NGOZI, BURUNDI
- City:
- Country: Burundi
- Reuters ID: LVAC3ODRVEZEJ8U56R693NLGRFN7
- Story Text: Some 40,000 Rwandan refugees fearing ethnic attacks have fled camps in northern Burundi and are heading for Tanzania, the United Nations said on Thursday (March 30).
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 1,500 Rwandans who apparently left on foot late on Tuesday (March 28) had already arrived at Kitale camp in eastern Tanzania.
The Hutus tramped through the hills in a column stretching for 35 km (23 miles). The refugees are alarmed by an attack on Majuri camp in Burundi's Ngozi province on Monday (March 27) in which 12 refugees were killed and by the departure of expatriates from Bujumbura after weekend violence there.
Unidentified armed men wearing fatigues carried out the attack on Majuri, which holds 30,000 Rwandans. In addition to the 12 people killed, 22 were wounded, 17 of them seriously.
Officials estimate 150 Hutus were massacred in Bujumbura last Friday, raising fears Burundi was going the way of neighbouring Rwanda, where up to a million people were killed in ethnic slaughter last year.
The UNHCR said at least 11,000 Rwandan refugees had left their camps in northern Burundi and the organisation's contingency plan had swung into effect. UNHCR border patrols have been stepped up and health clinics set up in Tanzania to help the weakest refugees.
About 40,000 refugees arrived last month from Burundi, including 28,000 Burundians and 12,000 Rwandans, according to the Geneva-based agency.
Care official Odette Beaudry said the refugees are fleeing for safety.
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