Bishop Bahabu was made to feel a 'second class citizen' for 40 years

Addressing refugees at Mylampavali refugee camp in Batticaloa, Bishop Alexis Billinda Bagobo said he himself was made to feel like a "second class citizen" for years.

"Ethnic discrimination become like my cup of tea for 40 years," the Anglican Bishop said.

He stressed that treating every citizen as equal is the key to achieve peace in troubled nations.

Rwanda genocide

The Bishop urged the refugees not to try to flee the country despite hardships they currently face.

Citing examples from his own country's path to recovery, he accused world leaders of failing to help Rwanda in a critical moment of its history.

	Nearly 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 1994

"Specially the Western nations they were talking about Rwanda being a failed state, banana republic, people were killing each other, forget about them, they will never come out of it".

Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.

Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus.

The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994.

Reconciliation plan

Within hours of the attack, a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country, and did not subside until three months later.

Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There have been always been disagreements between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, but the animosity between them has grown substantially since the colonial period.

Specially the Western nations they were talking about Rwanda being a failed state, banana republic, people were killing each other, forget about them, they will never come out of it Rt. Rev. Alexis Billinda Bahabu

Rwanda is working on a reconciliation plan after years of bloodshed, Bishop Bagobo told refugees in Batticaloa.

"The plan is of course for every citizen to enjoy to be a citizen of his own country without being made to feel that I am a second class citizen," he said.

He expressed hope that Sri Lanka will also be able to find a solution that will lead to long lasting peace.

Rt. Rev. Alexis Billinda Bagobo is to visit war orphanages in Batticaloa on Monday.