Rwanda and Burundi Conflict
Rwanda/ Burundi: Ethnic Conflict
Madalena and Lucie Niyigena ran for their lives to the seemingly safe Catholic church in the Rwandan village of Kibuye in 1994. Once inside the church with thousands of other Tutsis, they took a few breaths of relief, thinking they were finally safe. Seconds later, Hutus storm the church with machetes, killing every single mother, father, and child in their paths. Madalena and
Lucie luckily escaped and were able to hide with sympathetic people in the forest during the genocide. However, thousands of others were not so lucky. “By the end of the day, 11,500 people had been murdered in and around the church. The next day, another 10,000 Tutsis were killed in the football stadium,” (The Guardian). "’Today we are being asked to live with the people who killed our families. We are told they are sorry, they won 't do it again. Some people believe that. I am not one of them,’" (The Guardian) Madalena has said. Madalena and her daughter not only faced the immense barrier of living through the genocide, but now, everyday, they face the struggle of seeing the murderers of their family members, living lives with little consequences for their atrocious actions years before. Madalena and Lucie are not alone, as all Rwandans and
Burundians are burdened with a past of genocides and ethnic conflict. In recent years, over a million people have died due to the ethnic conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Eastern
Africa. The conflict between these two ethnicities goes back many years, and we will examine how the conflict started and has progressed into modern times.
According to CNN, “About 600 years ago, Tutsi’s, a tall warrior people, moved South from Ethiopia and invaded the homelands of the Hutus,” (CNN). Hutus farmed for the Tutsis in return for protection, and all was good. Tutsis were generally taller and had longer noses in comparison to the shorter Hutu, but mainly Hutus differentiated through their
Madalena and Lucie Niyigena ran for their lives to the seemingly safe Catholic church in the Rwandan village of Kibuye in 1994. Once inside the church with thousands of other Tutsis, they took a few breaths of relief, thinking they were finally safe. Seconds later, Hutus storm the church with machetes, killing every single mother, father, and child in their paths. Madalena and
Lucie luckily escaped and were able to hide with sympathetic people in the forest during the genocide. However, thousands of others were not so lucky. “By the end of the day, 11,500 people had been murdered in and around the church. The next day, another 10,000 Tutsis were killed in the football stadium,” (The Guardian). "’Today we are being asked to live with the people who killed our families. We are told they are sorry, they won 't do it again. Some people believe that. I am not one of them,’" (The Guardian) Madalena has said. Madalena and her daughter not only faced the immense barrier of living through the genocide, but now, everyday, they face the struggle of seeing the murderers of their family members, living lives with little consequences for their atrocious actions years before. Madalena and Lucie are not alone, as all Rwandans and
Burundians are burdened with a past of genocides and ethnic conflict. In recent years, over a million people have died due to the ethnic conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Eastern
Africa. The conflict between these two ethnicities goes back many years, and we will examine how the conflict started and has progressed into modern times.
According to CNN, “About 600 years ago, Tutsi’s, a tall warrior people, moved South from Ethiopia and invaded the homelands of the Hutus,” (CNN). Hutus farmed for the Tutsis in return for protection, and all was good. Tutsis were generally taller and had longer noses in comparison to the shorter Hutu, but mainly Hutus differentiated through their
Cited: 1. "Burundian Civil War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. 2. "A History of Hutu-Tutsi Conflict." About.com World News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. 3. Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. Print. 4. "Rwanda Genocide 20 Years On: 'We Live with Those Who Killed Our Families. We Are Told They 're Sorry, but Are They? '" The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. 5. "Rwanda: How the Genocide Happened." BBC News. BBC, 18 Dec. 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 6. "The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994: Evidence of Inaction." The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994: Evidence of Inaction. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.