If individuals take up arms they are no longer eligible for refugee status, and it would violate Article III of the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention governing refugees, which calls on signatory states to prohibit refugees from involvement in armed activities. The number of displaced is up from the 480,000 reported by the Government on 14 October. Hardest hit by the increased displacement are the northwestern Prefectures of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi, and Cyangugu in the southwest. An assessment of the situation is underway in order to gather more accurate figures and to determine how many of these may be people who returned to Rwanda in late 1996 and 1997. The screening of Rwandan refugees in Zambia and Tanzania was completed in September and October, respectively, while an individual review of Rwandans continues in Kenya.
Discussions center on the implications for host countries of denying individuals refugee status.
A total of 12,817 Burundi have returned from Tanzania since the beginning of the year. 8,678 have come back from the DRC during 1998, with the majority of these coming back after the outbreak of war on 2 August. This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is not an official UN document.