May 9, 1994: Tutsis abandoned as French forces evacuated foreigners, killings escalated

By The Inspirer.

On May 9, 1994, the third day of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, French forces carried out Operation Amaryllis, evacuating their citizens and other foreigners while leaving countless Tutsi civilians exposed to Interahamwe militias and government soldiers who carried out systematic killings.

According to Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Unity and National Reconciliation, French troops witnessed the massacres but did not intervene.

Families were separated, and desperate pleas for help went unanswered. Many Tutsi employees of the French embassy were killed, and children at the Ste Agathe orphanage, linked to Agathe Kanziga, wife of then-President Habyarimana, were forcibly taken. Children of the late Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, murdered two days earlier, were also denied refuge.

Meanwhile, key architects of the genocide, including financier Félicien Kabuga and RTLM propagandist Ferdinand Nahimana, were evacuated by French forces, underscoring the grim reality: perpetrators escaped while victims were left behind.

Massacres swept across the country. Over 500 Tutsis were killed at Saint Vincent Pallotti Catholic Parish in Gikondo, Kigali, including children. Other killings occurred in Nyakabanda, Murama, Murundi, Mwiri, Nyamirama, Kabare, Kabuye, Nyagatare, Zaza, Kiramuruzi, and Nyamagumba. Schools, churches, and hospitals—considered safe—became sites of mass slaughter. By the end of the day, thousands of Tutsis had been systematically executed.

May 9, 1994, revealed the deadly consequences of international inaction. While French forces prioritized evacuating foreigners, Tutsi civilians were abandoned to massacre, leaving an indelible scar on Rwanda’s history.