DATE=2/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=UNHCR / CONGO REFUGEES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259132
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-
C-R, says refugees have been fleeing into Kigoma,
Tanzania to escape renewed fighting between
rebels and pro-government Maimai soldiers in the
Congo. Since the beginning of the year, 1
thousand 300 Congolese have arrived in Tanzania.
But, Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the agency
says it is bracing for a possible mass exodus of
Congolese.
TEXT: The refugees are mainly women and very
small children. They are telling aid workers in
Tanzania terrible stories. Jacques Franquin, of
the United Nations refugee agency, says the
refugees report their houses have been looted by
the rebels. They say many men in their villages
have disappeared, others have been forced to
fight with the rebels.
Mr. Franquin says about 20-thousand Congolese
have gone to Bukavu in Eastern Congo. He says so
far only about 200 Congolese have crossed into
Tanzania from South Kivu. But, he says the U-N
refugee agency is concerned that this trickle
could turn into a flood. If instability in the
region continues to increase, Mr. Franquin says
thousands of refugees are likely to flee to
Tanzania for safety.
/// FRANQUIN ACT ///
We could expect something like 50-thousand,
100-thousand people arriving. This is a
situation which already happened in 1998.
Those people are still in camps in Tanzania
now. We have 100-thousand Congolese
refugees in Tanzania today and this number
could double in a few weeks.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Franquin says the Tanzanian border remains
open for now. But he says this could change. He
notes Tanzania has practically reached its limit
and is finding it more and more difficult to cope
with the huge number of refugees which are
already in the country.
Tanzania is hosting about 400-thousand refugees.
Most of them are from Burundi. Mr. Franquin says
this large refugee population is destabillizing
western Tanzania. And he says a heavy influx of
Congolese could force the government to close its
borders. That is what happened in 1995 when
hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees were
fleeing to Tanzania.
Mr. Franquin calls the situation in the Great
Lakes region explosive. He says the
international community does not seem to take the
problem seriously.
/// 2ND FRANQUIN ACT ///
When we are talking about 50-thousand
refugees in Europe or another part of the
world, this is a real crisis. Here,
Tanzania is hosting today more than 400-
thousand refugees and up to now, everyone
believes that the situation is under
control. It is not under control.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Franquin says the World Food Program is not
sure it will be able to provide food for all the
refugees and displaced people in the Great Lakes.
He says the international community must try to
bring peace to the region. Otherwise, he warns
the present crisis will get totally out of
control. (Signed)
NEB/LS/GE/KL
14-Feb-2000 09:08 AM EDT (14-Feb-2000 1408 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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