Britain condemns massacre at Burundi refugee camp

The British government has joined the United Nations in strongly condemning the massacre of at least 150 people at a refugee camp in Burundi.

Scores were killed and over a hundred injured when the Gatumba camp, which lies 16km northwest of Bujumbura near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was attacked by rebel forces. Among the victims were Banyamulenge (Tutsi) women and children who were shot dead and burned in their shelters.

Gatumba is one of three transit centres in Burundi's western frontier area sheltering 20,000 Congolese fleeing the DRC's South Kivu province where disgruntled commanders protesting the alleged mistreatment of the Banyamulenge rebelled in June.

The Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) of Agathon Rwasa – the only group which has not joined the Burundi peace process – claimed responsibility for the outrage.

Foreign Office Minister, Dr Denis MacShane, said the government had been "shocked by this terrible incident".

"The Foreign Office is in touch with the UN who are monitoring the aftermath of events. This sad occurrence points up the need for a healing process in the Great Lakes region, which we hope the proposed Great Lakes conference will assist," he said.

The UN's refugee agency said today that the Burundi government has agreed to authorise a secure camp away from the border for newly arrived refugees from the DRC. UNHCR has moved 500 survivors to a nearby school and another 100 went on their own to find accommodation in Bujumbura.

The agreement followed an urgent appeal from UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers, who called the slaughter of the sleeping refugees “an appalling massacre of innocent civilians".

The deputy director of UNHCR's Geneva-based Africa bureau was flying to Burundi today to call on the government to take immediate measures to get the refugees, who have fled ethnic fighting in the DRC, out of harm's way.

The UN Security Council also called on the authorities of Burundi and the DRC to "cooperate actively" so that those responsible could brought to justice without delay.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced outrage at the massacre, stressing that it must be promptly investigated “so that those responsible are identified, apprehended and brought to justice”.

He urged the governments of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda “to exercise restraint and to take the steps necessary to prevent a further deterioration of the situation in the region”.

The UNHCR reported that victims had been mutilated and beheaded - others were burned beyond recognition.

In a statement the UNHCR said: "Mothers were killed obviously while trying to protect their children with their bodies.

"Men armed with machetes, automatic weapons, grenades and torches swept into the camp amid the beating of drums and chants of 'Hallelujah'."

The agency added: "But everything the agency did was not enough in a region where governments have little control over forces that are constantly conjuring the most surreal and outrageous form of evil against the innocent to pursue their objectives."

Some relief workers said the attack was reminiscent of the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda a decade ago that left more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead at the hands of Hutu extremists.

Burundi itself is trying to resolve a decade of deadly warfare between Hutus and Tutsis and a UN peacekeeping mission (ONUB) was established there in June to help the process along.

(gmcg)