Bill Clinton: “Rwandan Refugees August 1, 1994 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) Since August 1993, when a fragile peace was…”

“Rwandan Refugees August 1, 1994 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) Since August 1993, when a fragile peace was signed between Rwandan Government Forces (RGF) and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the United Nations has been actively addressing the humanitarian crisis in Rwanda. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana of Rwanda, President Ntaryamira of Burundi and a number of government officials were killed when their plane crashed while approaching the airport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. This incident ruptured the peace and led to a resumption of the civil war that has now resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans, many of them Tutsi civilians who were the victims of genocide on the part of radical Hutu elements aligned with the former government. In early July 1994, the government fell and the RPF assumed power in Kigali, establishing a multi-party government. Since that time they have cooperated fully with us and have even requested human rights monitors to better assure the safety of returning refugees. As a result of the Civil War, the nation's infrastructure has been virtually destroyed. An estimated 2.1 million Rwandan refugees have fled to neighboring Zaire, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that a further 2.6 million persons are internally displaced.…”