It was in April 1994. The plane carrying the then Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down, and what ensued was mayhem and massacre, the worst genocide the world has ever witnessed when the streets of Rwanda became awash with the blood of Tutsis and Hutus. An estimated one million people were killed over three months.
It’s 30 years since but the scars will never heal and the horror will never die. Those who survived tell the tales with even deeper pain every time. Among them are several Omanis. Some had businesses there and some were visiting relatives.
Saeed Salim al Naamani still regrets making that trip to Kigali to see his parents. “Those five days were harrowing when survival became a struggle. We could not step out...there was continuous shelling and shooting. Peeping outside, we only saw the street strewn with bodies,” Al Naamani told the Observer.
After a few days of worry, the US Embassy announced it would escort all foreigners to Rwanda’s border with Burundi. “I did not believe it when I saw myself along with other Omanis in a convoy of over 200 vehicles heading to the border of Burundi. The few hours’ drive to the border took an entire day as roadblock after roadblock had to be passed,” Al Naamani.
“Once there, I felt like I was born again. I still cannot forget what happened. It was like death came gatecrashing. I was lucky to have lived,” Al Naamani said.
Some Omanis risked being killed after being mistaken for Belgians. Fuad bin Mohammed al Farsy was driving from Rwanda to (then) Zaire when he was pulled out of his car at a roadblock. “It was the day after the president’s assassination. The soldiers thought I was a Belgian and wanted to kill me. They said it was the Belgians who were behind Habyarimana’s death,” Farsy said. He was let go after he proved himself to be an Omani.
Many Omanis also exited Rwanda through its border with Tanzania. “I only saw killing and death. There were bodies all around. People were being massacred just because they belonged to a different tribe. It was all so bad,” said Saleh al Musallami, the horror returning to his eyes as he spoke. It was too much for a boy who was there during his high school holidays.
“We waited five days for the violence to die down. It did not, and so, escorted by a group of Rwandans armed with guns and grenades and by paying a large sum, we reached the border with Tanzania. We took a full day. Hutus were looking for Tutsis. We were saved by the colour of our skins,” Musallami said.
The violence forced people to remain indoors, and Omani families communicated by phone. There was no food. “Our Omani neighbor who had some stock shared it with us through the fence,” Ali al Harthy, who had business in Rwanda, recalled.
A few days later, there was news that all expatriates had gathered at Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali and that the United Nations would protect them. “Safety had to be bought again. We paid some soldiers to escort us to the hotel. There were roadblocks every few metres and so many questions. We kept paying until we reached the hotel,” Harthy said.
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