Jim Murphy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, said:
“Twenty years on it is remarkable how much progress Rwanda has made since genocide destroyed so many lives and turned the country upside down.
“In a hundred days in 1994 hundreds of thousands were killed, but today, whilst there is still a lot left to do the country, it has come an incredibly long way. Attendance at school is rising, infant mortality is tumbling, and a million people have been able to lift themselves out of poverty in just the last five years.
“Of course there are still real concerns about allegations of human rights violations by the Rwandan government, but today is a day to mark the people of Rwanda’s astonishing successes. Twenty years ago this country was ripped apart, but today it is coming back together faster than most people dared hope.”