| Date | May 2021 | Marks available | 9 | Reference code | 21M.1.BP.TZ0.20 |
| Level | Both SL and HL | Paper | Paper 1 - first exams 2017 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | To what extent | Question number | 20 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Source Q Philippe Lamair, a Belgian journalist specializing in international politics, writing in the article “Cooperation crucial in Rwanda crisis” for the UNHCR’s Refugees Magazine (September 1994).
On 28 April 1994, some 250000 Rwandese flooded into Tanzania in one single human wave—at the time, it was the biggest and fastest refugee movement the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had ever witnessed …
Jacques Franquin, coordinator of UNHCR activities in Ngara, Tanzania remembers his initial reaction was to call his non-governmental organization (NGO) colleagues. “I rushed to my radio and called Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to quickly send us reinforcements, supplies and, above all, a water provision specialist. MSF worked all night in Benaco (a refugee camp in Tanzania) to provide a minimum of drinking water to the refugees.”
Thanks to constant cooperation from NGOs, UNHCR managed to cope with the arrival of this human tide and saved many lives.
“The cooperation between UNHCR and the NGOs in this emergency situation was almost perfect,” said Franquin …
More than 15 NGOs work at the Benaco site. Each one is part of a complex project managed by the UNHCR, and each one has its speciality …
Despite the early successes, the battle has not yet been won. Big problems are an everyday fact of life here. Just to avoid starvation, some 200 tons of food must be shipped to Benaco each and every day … Add to that the problems of hygiene, the prevention of epidemics, the search for new sources of water, and the security problems inevitable in a population of hundreds of thousands of refugees …
So the work goes on, day by day, problem by problem. So far, UNHCR and its NGO partners have exceeded expectation.
[Source: Adapted from Lamair, P., 1994. (NGOs and UNHCR) - Cooperation crucial in Rwanda crisis. Refugee Magazine, Issue 97, 1 September 1994. UNHCR does not warrant in any way the accuracy of the information reproduced and may not be held liable for any loss caused by reliance on the accuracy or reliability thereof.]
Source R Barry Lewis, an English photojournalist and filmmaker, photographing a Red Cross hospital at the Kibumba Refugee Camp in Goma, Zaire (July 1994).
[Source: Lewis, B., 1994. Red Cross hospital at the Kibumba refugee camp, Goma. Barry Lewis / Alamy Stock Photo.]
Source T Gérard Prunier, a French academic and historian, specializing in central Africa, writing in the academic book The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (1997).
The Hutu power structure ruled unchallenged in the camps … The very men who had organized and carried out the genocide were in charge of most administrative aspects of camp life. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worked with them on matters of food distribution, health and schooling. Ex-FAR (Forces Armees Rwandaises/ Rwandan Armed Forces) soldiers and Interahamwe militiamen trained in full view of the foreign camp personnel. They collected taxes from the refugees and dealt violently with dissenters [those who refused]. Beatings and murders were commonplace, as was the intimidation of those who refused to collaborate with the extremist leadership. Refugees who talked about going back to Rwanda were endangering their lives.
[Source: Prunier, Gerard, The Rwanda Crisis, 1959-1994: History of a Genocide, pages 374–375 (London: Hurst Publishers, 1998). Reprinted with kind permission from Hurst Publishers.]
Using the sources and your own knowledge, to what extent do you agree with the view that Rwandan refugees found security and aid in camps during the period 1994–1996?
Markscheme
Apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and award credit wherever it is possible to do so. The following material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. It is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive and no set answer is required. While it is expected that there will be coverage of at least two of the sources, candidates are not required to refer to all four sources in their responses.
Indicative content
Source Q The source argues that cooperation between the UNHCR and NGOs allowed a secure entrance into Tanzania of 250 000 Rwandese in April 1994 and saved lives. It praises actions carried out by partner NGOs to grant refugees protection. However, it describes challenges faced on a daily basis in terms of providing protection against epidemics, hunger, access to water, and security.
Source R The source suggests that healthcare was organized in camps by NGOs such as the Red Cross to protect refugees against epidemics. However, it reveals that sickness and malnutrition threatened the population.
Source T The source states that camps organized health, schooling and food distribution. However, it argues that Hutu extremists threatened the personal security of opponents and of those who wished to return to Rwanda.
Own knowledge Candidates may offer further details on the actions carried out to provide safe water, education and health, including vaccination campaigns. They may refer to the logistic support provided by the US military. They may also argue that, fearing Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) violence, many Hutu found greater protection in camps than in Rwanda.
Candidates may also discuss that camps in Tanzania provided better protection than camps in Zaire, as the former had already hosted Burundi refugees in 1993; and politics and ethnic divisions in Zaire allowed Hutu power leadership to militarize camps. Candidates may argue that the outbreak of the First Congo War in 1996 had a negative impact on conditions in camps. Candidates may also evaluate the impact of foreign powers on living conditions in the camps. They may refer to the cholera epidemic which killed over 50 000 Rwandans at the Goma camp in July 1994.
Examiners report
It was again pleasing to find that the majority of candidates offered a response with some development for the fourth question. There was also continuity with previous sessions in that most responses were focused on the set question and had some reference to the sources to develop and support the analysis. For example, for Q12 many candidates effectively used the sources to argue that ideology played a key role and also evaluated other factors at play in influencing the foreign policies of Italy and Germany. For Q16 candidates also developed coherent arguments evaluating the effectiveness of non-violence in the African American struggle for civil rights. Nevertheless, as suggested earlier in this report, there were a sizeable proportion of candidates that seemed to have allowed too little time to develop an extended response. There were also a number of responses that lacked focus on the question, for example for Q12 rather than focusing on foreign policy, a few candidates discussed the influence of ideology on domestic policies. As with previous sessions, some responses tended to list the content of the sources without engaging with an analysis of the question. Many candidates did not synthesize knowledge of the case study into their response whereas a small minority wrote entirely from their own knowledge and did not refer to the sources.
