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That's what the initial wave of survivors of the Gatumba massacre did when they boarded planes bound for the United States today , as news24.com reports. All of this is due to the work of the UNHCR (the UN's High Commission for Refugees) and the US government. This first group includes some 35 refugees but, in total, 500 could benefit from claiming refugee status in the United States. The UNHCR wants to make sure that once these refugees make it to the States they all have a chance for a productive life. This is why, pre-departure, all took part in "basic Enlgish training." Further, efforts have been coordinated in cities where refugees are headed in terms of acclamation to daily life. Over the course of the next few weeks, until April's end, up to 100 will fly to the US each week until all are safely on US soil.
I find this news incredibly exciting and a very definite step in the right direction. Having been subject to a horrible tragedy in which upwards of 150 died the least that can be done for those who survived is to help make a better life possible. In the United States I hope that the refugees will be able to have more than just their basic needs met. I hope that they will be able to benefit from an environment in which their safety is assured and not under constant doubt. I hope, too, that they will become inspired by living in a democracy and one day be able to return to their homes. You see, this will not be the first move for these people, as those in Gatumba were already refugees from DRC at the time of the massacre. DRC is certainly not without its problems; nor is Burundi, for that matter. However, where deep damage and hurt have been done there is also room for immense healing and rebuilding. For those refugees making their way to the United States as spring approaches and the earth is renewed I hope that their faith will be renewed and that they will one day be able to return home, if they so choose, to bring that same hope back to their fellow citizens.
Hello again. So in this whole business of being new to blogging I realize how quickly mistakes in note taking and drawing from multiple documents at once can turn into gross rewritings of history. Thanks to a poster named Olivier my attention was brought to a BIG mistake in my last post. The genocide in Burundi was not sparked by the massacre at Gatumba, which did not take place until August 13, of 2004 (a Friday, no less)... NOT 1972 as I'd mistakenly written. My mistake is from mixing up a reference made to a separate Hutu rebellion which did take place in 1972. There's no excuse for mixing up the dates, by any means, but I've learned that while terms like "massacre" and "rebellion" might connote relatively similar images their range of use can certainly describe different incidents that should not be confused as I did.
As reported here by the US Department of State the massacre at Gatumba was carried out by a number of people, some of whom had ties to the National Liberation Front of the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People. A wealth of information on the massacre at Gatumba can be found by following this link which will take you to a website maintained by Human Rights Watch. Located in the summary of the article by HRW they report that 152 were killed and 106 wounded; most of those targeted were of Banyamulenge (a category within "Tutsi") descent from the DRC. Here I'd like to point out that in my previous post I mentioned 160 were killed while HRW counts 152 fatalities.
The first figure comes from an article in The Economist called "The 'Jews' of Africa" dated August 21, 2004. Since both sources are highly reputable I believe that there's ambiguity over the exact number. I'm reminded of words I heard from a professor who said something to this effect: " 'History' is merely a representation of events in the past, just as a map of a country is only a representation of the country and not the country itself." Whether it was 160 fatalities or 152 or any other number is only representative of one account of an event and tells you nothing of that event's historical significance. That any more blood was spilled in this long history of back-and-forth fighting between Hutu and Tutsi is what is historically significant.
The course of conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu is one that is complicated because of it's nature as a vicious cycle of reciprocating violence. I mentioned that I like the fact that I get to learn while blogging about this particular subject just as the rest of the Board is learning about their topics. Clearly, there was more than one lesson to be learned here: one, that the chance to learn means nothing if you learn or report something incorrectly; and two, that in such a wonderfully open place as the Internet any mistakes I make are instantaneously submitted to scrutiny, and by extension, I myself am open to that same scrutiny. I thank the poster who rightfully noted my error and I hope that this post has cleared things up. Next time, we'll start all over, you and I, and begin to examine the early history of the conflict and from there make our way into the present to look at the lingering effects of Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Burundi.
As I was looking for updates this week on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) the only coverage of the country in the mainstream media was related to rebels who killed and ate 2 silverback mountain gorillas in eastern Congo. Click here for the article.
Two things about this struck me. Firstly, this highlights the ongoing need for the international community to create stability in eastern Congo; things are so unstable that even gorillas are not safe, nor are the rangers who protect them. Secondly, I'm reminded of a story I heard about the Rwandan genocide. Apparently, during the genocide, Congress received more letters from constituents about the need to protect the endangered gorillas in Rwanda then about what was happening to the Rwandan people. I've visited these gorilla in Rwanda and know from experience how wonderful and important they are, but why is no one writing about the hundreds of people who are dying each day in eastern Congo? Perhaps its because they know the world doesn't care, or if it does care, no one will do anything about it because there are no consequences for inaction. We must change this.
Remember the final Seinfeld episode where Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer were arrested for not abiding by the Good Samaritan Law? Instead of helping a man who was being robbed, they laughed at him and made jokes. While humorous, this episode teaches a very important lesson; we cannot look the other way when others are in need, its our responsibility to help. As citizens in a globalized world we have a responsibility to speak out and take action to help the suffering Congolese people, not just cute gorillas. Tell your senators, representatives and local papers that you care about being a good Samaritan and you want to help the Congolese people. Don't stand by and let the atrocities committed in the DRC become a joke.
