AFRICANEWS
ClippingsBURUNDIThe Burundi Catholic Church has introduced a project on human and christian education in schools. The project, the first of its kind in the history of teaching in Catholic schools, has been effected in Catholic-sponsored schools. A report by Burundi news agency, says that the project is aimed at preparing primary and secondary schools students to cope with the challenges of adult life. The project will require an elaborate liaison between parents, teachers and government officials. Their combined effort will be critical to the sustenance of the project.Burundi government last year relinquished to the Catholic Church the management of schools it had take over under the regime of President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza. These included 32 primary and 28 secondary schools. Source say the Burundi governement's decision to reverse the arrangement on the management of schools was prompted by the economic hardships in the country. ERITREA-ETHIOPIAThirty-three Eritreans were granted temporary asylum by the Kenyan government today after declining to be flown to Asmara. They were part of a group of Eritreans who escaped from Ethiopia to the Kenyan border town of Moyale en route for Asmara, according to a source in the Kenyan immigration department. However, on reaching Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, they said they could not go home because it was not safe, the source told IRIN on 12 February. "UNHCR and IOM requested a temporary stay for them in the country and the government consented. Fourteen have accepted to go to Kakuma refugee camp but the rest are still being persuaded to do so," he added. A UNHCR spokesman in Nairobi told IRIN the refugees were in the process of being transferred to the camps.Meanwhile, Eritrean embassy spokesman Kidane Woldeyesus said the embassy had taken care of their nationals "dumped" by Ethiopian authorities at Moyale. "We chartered three aircraft between Monday and Tuesday to take about 250 Eritreans to Asmara on a voluntary basis," he told IRIN. "The consul witnessed this. As for the 33, they are not Eritreans and we cannot go after them, it is beyond our jurisdiction." Ethiopia "sincerely regrets" any civilian deaths in the ongoing conflict, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported on 11 February in reaction to the deaths of displaced people at Lailai Deder in Eritrea on Tuesday. However, ENA claimed that Eritrea had placed the civilians dangerously close to the front line. A statement today from the Eritrean news agency ERINA commented bitterly: "They are accusing us of placing our civilians under their bombs." GUINEAUNHCR is to begin a long-awaited census of refugees living in the forest region of Guinea on 9 February, according to a news release from the agency. The exercise was due to take place last year but was postponed because of presidetial elections. There are an estimated 431,000 refugees, mostly in the Gueckedou region. Of these, some 333,260 are Sierra Leoneans and 98,440 are Liberians.UNHCR says the week-long census is important for several reasons. It will allow the Guinean government, UNHCR and its partners to know precisely how many refugees are being assisted and to detemine their areas of origin in the event of future voluntary repatriation and reintegration. Furthermore, according to Elike Segbor, UNHCR chief in Gueckedou, the exercise will enable UNHCR to speed up a plan to relocate refugees away from the Sierra Leone border, where they are vulnerable to rebel attack. A site further inland capable of accommodating 50,000 refugees has already been identified. KENYASeveral parts of Kenya have remained dry, making the upcoming March-July long rains crucial for human and livestock survival. Farm households have overstretched their traditional coping strategies following successive crop failures. "Farm households residing along the lakeshore will be under considerable food stress in the event of poor long rains since the previous harvest was 20 percent below normal," the February Update of the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) warns. Based on a January survey conducted by FEWS, WFP and the Kenyan government, the Update forecasts domestic food supply for July 1998 - June 1999 to be about 3.1 million mt versus an estimated consumption of 2.9 million mt."The situation is bad. About 30-60 percent of the populations in Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Coast and parts of Central province need relief food. We are doing all we can in distribution but we need other agencies to chip in," Kenya's permanent secretary in charge of relief and rehabilitation, Joshua Matui, told IRIN on 8 January. According to a current FAO assessment, import needs are estimated at 147,000 mt, and 95,000 mt in food aid is required for 1998/1999. In Tanzania, the situation could improve if the long rains - which started poorly in December but are now picking up - continue through April, Nick Monda of FEWS said. Although the situation in Sudan has "dramatically" improved because of last year's good harvests and relief assistance, "Sudan remains vulnerable", he warned. A Kenyan court has refused the extradition to the United States of a Kenyan accused of involvement in last year's embassy bombing. According to news reports, Ali Salim, a mechanic, was released from police custody in Mombasa on Friday. He claimed he had been tortured and unlawfully detained. The high court ordered the immigration department not to allow FBI agents to take Salim out of the country. Meanwhile fourteen people have died of cholera in the coastal district of Kwale in Kenya. Speaking to IRIN today, WHO epidemiologist Dr Dominic Mutie said a ministry official on the ground explained to him that the situation was stable and not as bad as portrayed in the local press. "Teams are battling to save lives of patients," he said. "There are a lot of intravenous fluids and packs for oral rehydration and all is under control." Poor sanitation and contaminated water are the likely causes of the cholera outbreak. More than 160 people have been admitted in hospital. FRANCEUNESCO Director General Fredrico Mayor and Common wealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku have stressed the need for a positive approach to cultural diversity as a basis for peace and international solidarity.In their address during the opening of a three day colloquium in paris at the begining of the month, Mr. Mayor and Chief Anyaoku concurred on the positive nature of growing co- operation between their two organizations stressing that they shared the same fundamental values of justice and democracy. Chief Emeka Enyaoka echoed Mr. Mayor's concern that all too often "differences is associated not with celebration but with tension and conflict." He recalled that "according to one study, 79 of 82 conflicts around the world between 1989 and 1992 were intra- state in nature and most of them were linked to ethnic or religious difference." RWANDARwandan genocide suspect Eliezer Niyitegeka, arrested on 10 February by Kenyan police, is now waiting to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha. "We have received him and arrangements are being made for his initial appearance before the tribunal in a few days," ICTR spokesman, Kingsley Moghalu told IRIN.Niyitegeka, Rwanda's former information minister, was indicted by the UN tribunal for his role in the 1994 genocide. He faces among other counts, a charge that he took part in the massacre of several people in Bisesero, Kibuye region. Elsewhere,Rwanda's minister of foreign affairs Anastase Gasana has been replaced in a government reshuffle, state radio reported yesterday. Ambassador to Egypt Amri Sued takes over at the ministry. Gasana becomes the minister in the president's office in charge of institutional relations. A genocide survivor, Jean de Dieu Mucyo, takes over the justice ministry following the abrupt departure for the United States of the former minister, Faustin Nteziryayo. Three Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) ministers out of seven have been axed, and five new RPF figures brought in. The government comprises a 21-member cabinet and five secretaries of state. According to the private Rwanda News Agency, public criticism over government mismanagement and corruption has grown. The reshuffle is the third since 1994. Meanwhile the World Bank has approved a US $75-million loan for Rwanda to boost spending on social services, news agencies report. "We are doing this on the understanding that [the DRC] war is coming to an end," senior World Bank economist Chukwuma Obidegwu said on 11 February. The loan, dubbed an "economy recovery credit", is to be deposited directly into the central bank. Obidegwu said the World Bank had the government's word the credit would not be spent on the DRC conflict. According to Reuters, donor funds account for around 45 percent of Rwanda's 1999 budget. The Rwandan government is to provide 4.3 billion Rwandan francs - equivalent to 5 percent of the national budget - to support a fund set up to help genocide survivors. The donation complements funding from local business and civic organisations, the private Rwanda News Agency reported. The Fund spent close to 4 billion Rwandan francs last year targetting health, education and shelter needs of genocide survivors. SUDANMSF reported on 12 February that it has evacuated expatriate staff from five out of 10 locations in Bahr al-Ghazal, and one in Jonglei due to insecurity, which forced its workers to leave their bases at least 12 times since a mid-January ceasefire.On 9 February, the MSF teams in Panthou and Ajak left their locations after seeing frightened civilians fleeing the area and hearing that pro-government militias were nearby. Those in Tioraliet were also evacuated. All told, 16 MSF staff from the three locations were flown out on an OLS security flight. On 28 January, pro-government militia raided the village of Bararud, killing 10 civilians, including a local MSF staff member. Local witnesses claimed 60 militia on horseback raided the village, plundered medical supplies and food from the MSF health and nutritional structures, abducted women and children and used them as porters to carry their loot. Bararud's population was halved following the raid, the witnesses said. Akobo, in Jonglei, was evacuated on 6 February due to inter-factional fighting. According to MSF, its programmes in Bahr el Ghazal with expatriate staff are continuing in Achumchum, Ajiep, Mapel, Thiek Thou and Wau. All other locations in the province are now under assessment for security and the teams will return as soon as possible. MSF added that the programmes there were being continued by local staff. Meanwhile about 10,300 Sudanese refugees have crossed over into Adre, eastern Chad, in the past two weeks, UNHCR said. Half of them arrived in the last 24 hours, and people are still crossing the border, a UNHCR spokesman told IRIN on 12 February. According to UNHCR, there are up to 120,000 displaced people on the Sudanese side. "People arriving in Chad are both of Arab and Massalit origin," said the spokesman. Two UNHCR staff are expected to travel to Adre. Last May, some 8,500 Sudanese left the town of Al-Geneina under similar circumstances. UNHCR gave the group emergency aid, seeds and food to help them through the rainy season. Although some of the refugees returned home, the majority are still in Adre.
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