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So Many Refugees, So Little Hope

"Biscuit! Biscuit!" cried hungry children, grabbing the dusty tent walls. The workers in the tent rushed to hand out emergency food to thousands of waving arms. There was not nearly enough for everyone.

Last week sad scenes like this spread through eastern Zaire (zy-air) in Africa. Thousands of hungry families were fleeing from fighting.

The fighting was just the latest chapter in an old tug-of-war between the region's two major ethnic groups: Hutu (hoo-too) and Tutsi (toot-zi).

In September, the local government in Zaire began pushing Tutsi off land around Lake Kivu. It said the Tutsi are foreigners who don't belong there. The Tutsi, who have lived there for decades, have fought back fiercely. The battle has spread across the border to Rwanda, a land controlled by Tutsi.

Caught in the crossfire are Hutu refugees from the last big war between the groups. These Hutu, who fled Rwanda after a bloody 1994 war, are running again. Some 400,000 are crammed into Mugunga, making it the world's biggest refugee camp.

The United Nations and other groups are struggling to provide enough food and medicine to keep them alive.

Next: Watch Out, Mars! Here We Come!