BURUNDI: Aid Agencies Will Remain Despite Escalating Violence

By Lahai J. Samboma Reprint | | Print |

LONDON, Jul 7 1995 (IPS) - Mounting speculation that escalating inter- ethnic violence in Burundi would force international relief agencies working in the country to pull out has been dismissed as “baseless” by London-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“Such speculation is baseless. It is not the policy of the Red Cross to halt operations under such circumstances, or to abandon people who need our help to what some would call their fate,” said Juliet Sober, a London spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “We have no intention of pulling out.”

This reassurance follows the recent decision by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to suspend operations in parts of the central African nation after a convoy belonging to French NGO International Action Against Hunger (AICF) was attacked by militiamen.

According to Elizabeth Lee, spokeswoman for the U.N. in London, relief operations in the country “have only been suspended temporarily because of the general security situation and, in particular because of the ambush of the convoy”.

During the attack — suspected to have been carried out by Tutsi militiamen — at least one Burundian aid worker was killed and four were wounded.

Burundi U.N. Ambassador Tharcisse Nkatibirora, however, denies it was the work of the Tutsi forces. Himself a Tutsi, he told an IPS reporter in New York that the north is full of “militia-style activity” — mainly carried out by Hutus from Rwanda’s former militia forces linked to the 1994 genocide in that country.

Burundi’s government, like its six-million population, is made up mainly of Hutus, while the military is predominantly Tutsi. The army has been repeatedly accused by aid workers and human rights groups of invading Hutu suburbs in the capital and killing civilians in its campaign against armed Hutu militias.

Late last week aid workers reported that 30 to 40 displaced Hutus who had sought refuge just outside Bujumbura were killed by mortars fired by the army.

Sober would not be drawn into a discussion of the ethics of the U.N. decision, but said that it could potentially lead other agencies to review their commitments in the country, adding: “However, the presence or absence of the U.N. will not influence the Red Cross.”

Other NGOs based here — including ActionAid, Christian Aid and Oxfam — say that while the security situation in the country may be getting increasingly precarious, they are a long way away from the point where they would consider pulling out, or even suspending operations.