John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In one of the darkest periods in recent history, for 100 days from April to July in 1994, almost one million people, or one in 10 Rwandans, were murdered in a brutal act of genocide. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Even for a continent devastated by centuries of conflict and famine, the scale and speed of this slaughter was astonishing.

In April 1994, decades of ethnic tensions between Hutus and Tutsis came to a head when the Rwandan President's plane was shot down on approach to Kigali airport, killing everyone on board, including the President. Both sides blamed each other for downing the President's plane. Whoever was responsible, within hours a campaign of violence was mobilised by the Hutu government against minority Tutsis, quickly spreading from the capital to the countryside. Government officials, soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citizens to take part in the slaughter. Tragically, in some cases Hutus were forced to murder their long time Tutsi neighbours or be killed themselves.

In the aftermath many households were left headed by orphaned children or widows. Many women, victims of war rape, were infected with HIV, as well as their babies, and now deal with the added burden of social exclusion and isolation. The destruction of infrastructure and a severe depopulation of the country crippled the economy. Many fled, languishing in squalid refugee camps for years. In the months and years that followed, after having grown up in exile in refugee camps in the region, thousands of Rwandans returned home to rebuild their lives and their country.

Now, some good news. It follows, in fact, from comments I recently made about the positive effect cricket is having in Afghanistan after decades of violence and upheaval. I celebrated the remarkable success of the Afghanistan national cricket team on the world stage, including their qualification for next year's Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. I am happy to report a similar story is now being written in Rwanda.

Cricket was brought to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide by the thousands of returning Rwandans who grew up playing cricket in refugee camps and towns in nearby cricket-playing nations Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In 1999 a small number of these cricket enthusiasts founded the Rwanda Cricket Association, the RCA, with Rwanda achieving affiliate status of the International Cricket Council in 2003. The RCA's activities have been largely centred on a small uneven field leased from the Kicukiro College of Technology in Kigali. Despite the RCA's excellent development program and burgeoning interest, this uneven field, dotted I am told with ant nests and hidden holes, remains the country's only recognised cricket field. I am also advised that, despite these challenging conditions, local players play and practice with an intensity and enthusiasm that belies the shortcomings of these facilities.

To assist Rwandan cricket, the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation was formed in August 2011. The charity is run by cricket enthusiasts from the UK and Rwanda, in partnership with the Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation. Their mission is to:

… construct and manage a not-for-profit international standard cricket and sports centre in Kigali, that will operate a 'sport for all' policy, allowing Rwandans from all backgrounds access to cricket.

Patrons include British Prime Minister David Cameron, former English test cricketer and BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew, and West Indian test cricket great Brian Lara. A site on the outskirts of Kigali has been acquired with development to begin in October 2014

From there, the Rwanda Cricket Association will have a permanent home, where it can continue to foster the game in schools and universities as well as amongst Rwanda's most disadvantaged young people.

According to the Rwandan Cricket website, thousands of young Rwandans, both male and female, now play cricket in orphanages, primary and secondary schools and universities. In 2010 the under-19 Rwandan girls team beat regional heavyweights Kenya. In 2011 the men's team won the ICC Africa Division 3 Championships; and in the same year two of Rwanda's best female cricketers were selected by the ICC to attend a training clinic in South Africa.

We should remember that, more broadly, Rwanda is proving to be a great African success story. In 2008, in an effort to align itself with the East African community and, if you like, the anglophone world, Rwanda changed its official language from French to English and joined the Commonwealth. Last year, the World Bank ranked Rwanda the 32nd easiest place for doing business in the world, second in Africa to Mauritius. Also in 2013, Rwanda ranked 49th in the Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International, second in Africa to Botswana. Sixty four per cent of Rwandan parliamentarians are women—that is 51 from 80 seats, the highest proportion of any parliament in the world.

I want to conclude my remarks this evening by saying that it is great to see a game in Rwanda, the game of cricket, bringing so much positivity to the lives of its people, as has happened, as I have said before in the Senate, in other historically troubled corners of the globe. Like in Afghanistan, I hope that cricket, in its own small way, can help bring the people of Rwanda together and change their lives for the better.