wfn.org | UMs remain ready

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3297 notes).

Note 3297 by UMNS on Nov. 19, 1996 at 15:44 Eastern (2236 characters).

SEARCH: eastern Zaire, Rwanda, refugees, United Methodist
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency
of the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn.,
New York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                         583(10-21-71B){3297}
         New York (212) 870-3803                    Nov. 19, 1996

United Methodists standing by
to assist in refugee relief efforts

     NEW YORK (UMNS)--The United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries is continuing to assess possibilities for humanitarian
assistance to refugees in eastern Zaire and Rwanda.
     The Rev. Randolph Nugent, the board's general secretary,
said Nov. 18 that regardless of whether U.S. troops are sent to
the region as part of a peacekeeping force, his agency "will
fulfill its commitment to provide the humanitarian aid necessary
to ease the suffering."
     Two emergency medical teams are being kept on 48-hour
standby through Nov. 28. Deployed through the board's relief
agency, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), they
would enter the region "under a shared banner" with other
ecumenical partners.
     At least a half million Rwandan refugees are estimated to
have crossed the border from Zaire to their home country since
Nov. 15. By the afternoon of Nov. 18, the flow of people across
the border had slowed to 3,000 to 4,000 an hour, according to the
United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs.
     Dellaphine Rauch-Houkepon, UMCOR's head of mission for
eastern Zaire, was part of a recent ecumenical relief assessment
team in the region. She also traveled to Gisenyi, Rwanda, on Nov.
16 to witness the border crossing by refugees and has met with
various officials and relief agency representatives in Kigali,
Rwanda's capital.
     Although the refugee camps around Goma, Zaire, are empty,
the New York Times reported Nov. 19 that another half-million
refugees remained somewhere in the hills and valleys around
Bukavu, cut off from international aid.
     In addition, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights has
estimated that more than 750,000 Zairians remain internally
displaced in Shaba and North Kivu provinces because of the recent
fighting.
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