Exodus

Exodus

Production Co: TV 6 for the BBC/TVE
Producer: Mick Rhodes

Genre: Documentary

Region: Rwanda, Tanzania

Duration: 50'

Language: English

In April 1994 250,000 people fleeing Rwanda’s bloody war set up camp across the border in Tanzania. Almost overnight, Bamako refugee camp had effectively become Tanzania’s second largest city. With 50,000 families requiring fuel wood and drinking water, this ‘city’ soon began to have a devastating effect on the surrounding forests and local water supply. Facing a catastrophe, representatives of the aid charity CARE ordered an environmental impact assessment, to find ways to reduce the destruction and establish a blueprint for future refugee policy. The research suggested practical solutions - supplying fuel to prevent deforestation and protecting groundwater by building dams to catch rainwater. But underlying this was the conclusion that international policy towards refugees - short-term crisis management rather than long-term solutions - was the root of the problem.