Union reviews its strategy for action in Zaïre

Date: 09/01/1997

By Elizabeth Wise

BARELY two months after fighting between rebels and government troops in eastern Zaïre sparked a humanitarian crisis of huge proportions, the European Union's demands for action have faded into a muffled silence.

But EU officials say they are working on a strategy which will be more effective than the loud, but mostly empty noises the Union made last year.

Development Commissioner Joo de Deus Pinheiro has promised a more coherent approach, and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Emma Bonino has effectively put pressure on the Union to take a more political stance rather than just merely handing out money after disasters.

But the Commission cannot solve the problems of Zaïre, Rwanda and Burundi (collect-ively known as the Great Lakes region) alone and EU member states appear less than enthusiastic about taking on the project.

Only Belgium and France are keeping a lonely vigil in the simmering region and in helping the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people still on the move.

Most EU nations, the Dutch presidency included, do not hide the fact that they would rather not have to take any real decisions and maintain that none are needed for the moment.

“The presidency will be on the alert if any new action is required, but for the immediate future we do not have anything planned,” said a Dutch official.

The pressure to send troops to quell disturbances or assure the passage of food aid has lifted and the idea is fading as an option for Union action.

“The problem seems to have solved itself,” said a Dutch diplomat, adding: “There is no reason for us to plan or undertake any particular action.”

But Belgium disagrees and is struggling to keep alive the possibility of deploying troops.

“We believe we definitely need to have an international force in Zaïre that is helped by European, American and African troops,” said a Belgian diplomat.

EU nations were reprieved of the duty to contribute troops to an international force when the United Nations cancelled the mandate for such a force just before Christmas.

But Europe's commitment to deploying soldiers if necessary was questionable anyway: the declaration resulting from the much-touted meeting the EU hosted in December never even mentioned troops.

According to diplomats, strong resistance to the idea from Germany made a joint decision on sending peace-keepers very difficult.

The UK was reluctant to send men, but was prepared to help finance a European contingent. Germany, however, was even unwilling to give any money.

Enraged, Belgium's Foreign Minister Eric Derycke concluded that for Germany, Africans were less worthy of help than the Yugoslavs.

“We have been spending fortunes in former Yugoslavia and rightly so but here we had a need, we had the money, we had the mandate, and what was lacking was political will,” said a diplomat.

Finding the right policy for Zaïre, and for the Rwandan refugees there, has not been easy.

The EU wants to help refugees but not to support Rwandan exiles plotting a return and to overthrow the Kigali government. It wants to provide financial aid for Zaïrians, but not to put money into the hands of Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko.

Separating the two is far from easy. The answer the Union has come up with is to support Zaïre's scheduled presidential and legislative elections this summer with 4-million-ecu worth of election equipment and training.

In Rwanda, the Union's main efforts are devoted to re-habilitating the country so that refugees can return home.

“We want to reinforce the impressive efforts made by the Rwandan government to restore normality,” said a Commission official.

The Commission last month approved 56 million ecu in funding for a rehabilitation programme in Rwanda which will be implemented in 1998, and expects to release another 60 million ecu during the coming three months for similar projects both in Rwanda and in refugee-inhabited areas of Zaïre.

Refugees in eastern Zaïre will also benefit from a 45-million-ecu donation to the area's health sector which was also approved by the Commission last month.

EU humanitarian support for refugees and displaced people in eastern Zaïre and Rwanda will amount to 160 million ecu for the first eight months of this year.

In Burundi, the job is even more difficult Union mediator Aldo Ajello is working hard with the appointed African mediator, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, to obtain a cease-fire.

Ajello, who makes frequent trips to the Great Lakes region, is tasked with keeping the EU informed and taking the Union's messages back.

EU officials say the information Ajello brings back from his regular trips to the region has helped the Union conduct a more efficient policy in the area.

Ajello, who plans his next trip later this month, is working hard to convince leaders of Rwanda, Burundi, Zaïre, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to agree to a regional summit.

The EU hopes that such a conference would lay the groundwork for political stability and economic development throughout the region.