Death and debt
While aid poured into the refugee camps in Zaire, and while Hutu Power re-armed and re-trained, in Kigali there was nothing but debt.. In October 1994 France lobbied against the new regime in all the international institutions, trying to block aid from the European Union, and arguing that money should be paid only when the refugees outside Rwanda returned to their country.
Donor countries insisted that the new government negotiate with the previous leaders and hold open elections. The new government thought this was absurd. There was nothing to negotiate; no-one to negotiate with, apart from mass murderers.
The World Bank had earmarked $140 million for Rwanda but wanted $4.5 million first in arrears; under the rules, new loans are not allowed unless other debts are paid, and the new government owed the World Bank US$6 million in arrears. The new regime would have to repay money borrowed from the international financial institutions, money that had been spent on the genocide. Having provided substantial assistance for the refugees, donors now held back, waiting until the new regime had ‘established its credibility’.
In November 1995, the Egyptian Office of Military Intelligence wrote to the Rwandan government to demand one million dollars, due at the Credit Lyonnais bank in London, part payment for weapons under the arms contract signed in March 1992. The debt was eventually paid.
From A People Betrayed. The role of the west in Rwanda's genocide, by Linda Melvern