[allAfrica.com] [BBC_News_in_French] Ituri's Greeks Flee Fury New Vision (Kampala) NEWS May 26, 2003 Posted to the web May 27, 2003 Kampala The UN in Kinshasa arranged two passenger planes last Friday to ship missionaries, businessmen and aid workers to the safety of Entebbe airbase. Eastern Congo has a sizeable but little-known Greek Cypriot community which has come under increasing attack as the security situation in the troubled region continues to decline. Last weekend, some of the last remaining of these Greek residents of Ituri were evacuated after spending three nights hiding in Bunia airport. The evacuation followed an attack on a settlement in Bunia. An unknown armed gang launched a grenade into one of the community's compounds, seriously injuring two Greek Cypriots. Many of these had been robbed and shot at by armed gangs before, but had not been exposed to firepower of this kind. "The number of Greek Cypriots we saw coming in on one flight was about 60, but there were probably more on another UN flight," says Elizabeth Roussos. "Some have gone to the border at Kasese, waiting to go back. Others have gone to Greece, some are staying here," she adds. The Greek contingent in eastern Congo dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, shortly after King Leopold initiated the Scramble for Africa. They settled there and for years, enjoyed the benefits of Belgian colonial divide- and-rule. In their heyday, they numbered between 3,000 to 4,000, but since Mobutu's reign ended, their numbers have steadily declined. Most of them are farmers or cross-border businessmen, part of the thriving export trade operating out of this region into Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan. "They import and export various goods," explains Roussos, "They deal in salted and smoked fish from Lake Albert, the way Africans do it. Some of them grow and trade in coffee. They run a lot of eastern Congo's profitable agriculture." "We used to call some parts of Ituri 'little Greece'," says John D, a 57-year- old Cypriot coffee grower from Isero in the north-east, who requested that his full name not be published. "We Greeks have beaten the whole eastern Congo in successful trade," he beams. "because of us, it used to be the richest area in the whole region for production of coffee." However, while the Cypriots have excelled in many trades, they apparently missed a slice of Congo's most lucrative one -- mining. "We had nothing to do with mines." says John D. "This has always been for the Belgians, and more recently, the South Africans, not the Greeks. We were not allowed before independence and we haven't bothered since. We are farmers," he adds. John O, a businessman from Bunia who also insists on anonymity, is in the more controversial timber business. Timber was one resource named in the UN Expert Panel as being systematically looted by the UPDF, who worked in cahoots with Iturian businesses. But John O insists none of his timber is smuggled across borders or transported on Ugandan or Rwandan military vehicles: "I never worked with the Ugandan army, not even on one shipment. I never even worked with a Ugandan national," he says. The two Johns are amongst the hard core of Greek Cypriots who have stuck it out through all the troubles in Ituri. That they should be leaving now, after having stayed for so long, is a sign of just how bad things have become. According to them, the real lawlessness coincided with the splintering of Congo's rebel factions into smaller, more unruly groups: "The lawlessness infected everybody," says John D. "When we only had Bemba and the Ugandans here, we felt safe," he says, "but when they put Mbusa Nyamwisi and Lubanga in charge, that's when the problems started. I have been attacked by Mbusa's thugs at midnight. They shot at me in my bedroom. When Bemba's men were alone, they were quiet in Isero. But later even they started to misbehave." As Bemba's forces became more unruly, they were accused amongst other things, of cannibalism. Could there have been any truth in the accusations? "I was with Bemba's men in Isero and I don't believe a word of it," says John D. "everyone knows those Lendus eat the hearts of their enemies, but I'd be very surprised to hear of his (Bemba's) soldiers eating people." Ultimately, Ituri's Greek Cypriot community have agreed that the mandate of the UN peacekeepers simply does not have the muscle to deal with Ituri's lawlessness. Both Johns nod furiously at President Museveni's suggestion that the UN are practising "dangerous tourism" in eastern Congo. "They see people killing each other by their hundreds and they just watch," says John O. "the problem is that they don't like to intervene against anybody, because they are a peacekeeping force. They don't want to take sides." John D adds: "The whole reason these thugs are killing is because they know the United Nations will not react. Otherwise, they would be scared of them. If they wanted to, they could take the whole Congo, but they have not the mandate." Such words are to be expected from two Greek Cypriots, who have, over the years, watched their people murdered by Turkish soldiers or killed in Greek/ Turkish ethnic clashes on the troubled Island of Cyprus, while another UN peacekeeping force sits powerless to stop it. "The UN peacekeepers need to have their restrictions lifted everywhere," says John D. "they must be permitted to fight in order to stop the killing." Ends   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2003 New Vision. All rights reserved. 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