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Beartha's Story
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Save The Children
Who's Been Living In My House?
Alero Harrison reports from Rwanda
At the end of 1996, over half a million refugees came home to Rwanda. They arrived the same way they had left in 1994 - a sea of humanity carrying all their worldly belongings on their heads.
But that is not the end of the story. The returnees, and those who stayed behind, are competing for houses, land, jobs, education and health care.
People living in abandoned houses have had to quit as their owners returned to reclaim them. Returnees are having to negotiate to get their land back. Many will have missed the planting season in January, and may have to wait a year before they can harvest any food. The effects on children are enormous.
Land is a crucial issue in a country the size of Wales, with a population of over seven million. Analysts of the genocide say there is a correlation between areas with high murder rates and areas with highly unequal distribution of land. Women's rights to land is a big issue, as teenager Beatha has discovered.
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