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DATE=7/21/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=U-N-H-C-R / RWANDA REFUGEES (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-264657 BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN DATELINE=GENEVA CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says it is concerned by what it calls a worrying increase in the number of Rwandan refugees arriving in Tanzania. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the agency says almost one-thousand Rwandans have fled to Tanzania since the beginning of the month. TEXT: The U-N refugee agency says this is a significant rise in the number of Rwandan refugees arriving in Tanzania. The agency says that for the first six months of this year, an average of 380 Rwandan refugees a month have sought asylum in Tanzania. It says the recent big increase in refugees brings this year's total to three-thousand-240. U-N-H-C-R spokesman Ron Redmond says the total is almost twice the number of refugees that was recorded for all of 1999. He says most of the refugees reportedly come from Rwanda's Kibungo area. /// REDMOND ACT /// They take two days generally to get there. They have to then sneak across the Kagera River into Tanzania in small numbers. They cite a number of reasons for leaving including an alleged increase in disappearances and reported arbitrary arrests and killings, especially among young men. /// END ACT /// Mr. Redmond says aid workers in Tanzania who traveled to the Rwandan border on July 11th were told that bodies had been seen floating in the Kagera River. He says this is another possible reason for the increasing numbers of refugees fleeing Rwanda. He says the majority of refugees are women and young men. He says Rwandan security forces reportedly are gathered in the border region, making departure difficult. The refugees tell aid workers they have to cross the border into Tanzania at night to avoid being stopped by the security forces who would prevent them from leaving. (Signed) NEB/LS/JWH/PW 21-Jul-2000 10:38 AM EDT (21-Jul-2000 1438 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .





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