Citation
LONDON, April 14 (Reuter) - British aid agency Oxfam launched a
nationwide appeal on Thursday saying it needed more that a million
pounds ($1.5 million) to help tens of thousands of refugees fleeing
bloodshed in Rwanda.
The death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana in a rocket attack
on his plane last week sparked a wave of tribal bloodletting in the
tiny central African state.
We're going to see an appalling crisis,
Oxfam spokesman John Magrath
told Reuters. Everyone I've talked to is extremely worried...We
desperately need money from the public.
He said Oxfam was providing immediate help to 50,000 people using all
the equipment it has in stock. We're going to spend over one million
pounds and that is probably just the start.
Funds raised would be used to provide shelter, water supplies, blankets
and clothing for a tidal wave of refugees already flooding into nearby
Zaire, Burundi and Tanzania.
He said Oxfam was particularly anxious about the fate of 300,000
Burundian refugees who fled to Rwanda before the current crisis. Where
they're going to go nobody knows,
Magrath said.
He said Oxfam feared for the safety of 19 of its aid workers in Rwanda
who have not been seen since the violence began.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
