 RWANDA
Scams & Warnings
Rwanda is a war zone, and as such it's no place for travellers. The brutal fighting in the country has its roots in the political power struggles between two social groups, the Tutsi and Hutu. Following independence in 1962, the Hutu assumed power. Certain Tutsi factions, unwilling to accept their loss of former privilege, formed guerrilla groups to mount raids on Hutu communities, which in turn brought on Hutu reprisals in which thousands of Tutsi were massacred and tens of thousands fled to Uganda and Burundi. Fighting has intensified throughout the 1990s. In just three violent months in 1994, some one million Rwandans were butchered, the vast majority by civilian militias trained by the military and armed with machetes, grenades and assault rifles. A further three million Rwandans fled the country to refugee camps set up for them in neighbouring countries. The fighting has spread throughout the country and nobody is safe from brutal acts of violence: tens of thousands of unarmed civilians were killed in 1998 alone.
Lonely Planet (April 99)
It is NOT safe to even enter Rwanda. I've just been working there for the last two years and before I left, the fighting around the lake and Ruhengeri had escalated to typical conventional battles. Anybody that tells you any different is an ill-informed dick! Even if the fighting subsides you can be sure it'll flare up again without notice. Matters are far from settled in this part of the world.
Brett (Jan 98)
For more news, views and the odd bit of gibberish, drop in on
the rec.travel.africa newsgroup.
For detailed up-to-date travel information check out Lonely
Planet's Destination Rwanda.
Check out more African Postcards
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