Clare Short: Britain can be proud of our intervention in Rwanda

Sep 30 2008 By Clare Short

My summer holiday this year was in Rwanda. I met up there with my sister and brother-in-law who live in Cape Town.
We were also joined by my niece Sarah who is a member of the Canadian winter Olympic team. She is a cross country skier who is just over five feet tall and of tiny build, but super fit.
People may wonder why we went to Rwanda. In my case, I became strongly involved in Rwanda after I took over the Department for International Development in 1997. They had suffered a terrible genocide in 1994 when nearly a million people out of a population of seven million were killed over a period of three months.
It was not an outbreak of chaotic conflict, but an organised, systematic effort to destroy one group of people. The killing was done under orders, and mostly by machete.
I first visited Rwanda in 1997. The country was still in a terrible mess. Children were receiving special food through UN programmes because they were starving. The old government that had supported the genocide had fled into Congo with over a million people.
The new government had few friends and fewer resources. And those who had organised the genocide were in Congo, trying to attack and return to overthrow the new government.
I decided that the UK should step forward and try to help Rwanda rebuild. If we did not find a way to help them grow their economy and provide a better future for their people, there was a real probability that outbreaks of mass killing would recur.
Rwanda had been colonised by Belgium which had categorised the taller, cattle owners as a separate ethnic group from the stockier farmers. This was a false division. All the people spoke the same language and frequently intermarried.
The Belgians created a myth that the pastoralists were descended from royal lineage, and granted them privileges over the rest. Everyone was categorised as either Tutsi or Hutu and that is how the division began. After independence, the Hutu, who had been treated as inferior to the Tutsi, started to attack and send into exile their Tutsi compatriots.
French influence overtook the Belgians in this francophone country. But France, to its shame, helped to protect and support those who had organised the genocide in 1994.
The new government was led by people who had been exiled to Uganda and spoke English. They were determined to abolish the distinction between Hutu and Tutsi, create a government representing all and develop the country so that the hatreds of the past could be left behind and everyone could look forward to a better future.
Rwanda needed a friend in the international system. The UK could play this role because we had no history in Rwanda. We therefore signed a long term partnership to support reform, and persuaded the World Bank and IMF to provide support.
At first the partnership was controversial. The French did not want the UK involved in a French speaking country. The presence of the genocidaire in Congo led to a war for which Rwanda was blamed and some accused the new government of being too authoritarian.
But we stuck with Rwanda. Peace was made, refugees returned home, education and healthcare were provided for all and the economy was growing steadily.
I went back this year to see how Rwanda was doing after my last visit in 2004 and was massively impressed. The country is remarkably clean and well organised. All children are in school. Healthcare is provided for all. The economy is growing, but there is still great poverty and more needs to be done.
But the wonderful thing about Rwanda is that people are full of hope and determination to build a better future. It is also safe. My niece was able to run around Kigali in complete safety. My relatives were also able to go to see the wonderful gorillas in the mist.
Rwanda has been to hell and is coming back. As well as offering a better future for its people, it is demonstrating that if Rwanda can make it, nowhere else in this world is hopeless. It is truly an inspiration. And the UK can be proud of the role we played.

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