Refugees flee Zaire camps

Sunday 20 October 1996 23:02 BST

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About 110,000 Burundian and Rwandan Hutu refugees have fled camps in south-east Zaire because of fighting nearby, a UN spokesman said.

"It could very quickly turn into an emergency," the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Paul Stromberg, said.

He added that the Zairian military has reported fighting between Zairian troops and Banyamulenge rebels in and around the camps. The minority Banyamulenge, a sub-group of the Tutsi, have lived in Zaire for generations, but with the arrival of Hutu refugees the group has been subject to violent attacks by local militias and discrimination by the Zairian government. AP - Bujumbura

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Refugees flee Zaire camps

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