Remaining Rwandan refugees

While the number of Rwandan asylum seekers in the DRC remained uncertain, most sources assumed the figure at between 30,000-40,000 at the end of 1998, the US Committee for Refugees (USCR) said in its latest annual 'World Refugee Survey'. "Many preferred for security reasons to live on their own, integrated into the local Congolese population in different areas of the country," the report said. UNHCR and government officials have been unable to conduct official interviews to determine which Rwandans had legitimate refugee claims, and which were disqualified from refugee status because of participation in the 1994 Rwandan genocide or current activity as combatants. UNHCR reported that it was assisting about 4,000, the report said. More than 200,000 Rwandans fled west from eastern DRC's refugee camps at the start of the 1996 civil war. Thousands were believed to have died of disease, malnutrition and massacres allegedly by Rwandan and Congolese soldiers.