Diaspora raps world over ‘94 indifference

As Rwanda was joined by the rest of the world to commemorate the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi for the 15th time, members of the Rwandan Diaspora in Denmark and Sweden condemned the International Community for its indifference when the Genocide took place. Rwandans living in both countries over the weekend held various commemoration activities through which messages of hope and courage to struggle for a better future were given, along with testimonies of survivors and film viewing, as well as commemoration songs. Rwandan Ambassador to the Nordic Countries, Jacqueline Mukangira, told the gathering in the Swedish capital Stockholm that the commemoration week is not only an opportunity for the people of Rwanda to remember their loved ones, but also an important occasion to reflect on what caused the Genocide to ensure that it never happens again. Mukangira said that the whole international community should now learn lessons from what happened in Rwanda and draw powerful measures to make sure that never should mankind be rejected or neglected to such an awful extent. “More than one million Tutsi; men, women, children, name it… died a terrible death,” she lamented during her remarks. “Women were raped and some infected with HIV/AIDS, and babies killed on their mothers’ backs, when the whole world was watching.” As she officially launched the One Dollar Campaign in Sweden, Ambassador Mukangira also remarked that the lost innocent souls had around them a capable world that remained silent and instead turned away. This, according to her, is the time when members of the Diaspora need to work hand in hand with the current government to rebuild the country’s development. The same message was delivered to the Rwandan community in Denmark, where Rwandans and their fellow Burundians and Senegalese gathered on Saturday in the capital Copenhagen, to pay their respects to their loved ones who perished in the 1994 Genocide. There again, the international community was condemned for abandoning the Tutsi in a situation that left over a million of them killed. “The International Community would have acted during that period, but instead turned away, which was too unfortunate,” said one George Kalisa, a member of the Rwandan Diaspora in Denmark. The official commemoration week in Rwanda that ended yesterday, had kicked off on April 7 at Nyanza Memorial Site in Kicukiro District, a notorious place for the inactivity of international community. UN peacekeeping troops abandoned helpless Tutsis into the hands of Interahamwe militia in April 1994. Ends

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Diaspora raps world over ‘94 indifference