In 1997, three years after the Rwandan genocide, a large refugee camp was disbanded over the border between Rwanda and Zaire. A group of rebels bent on destabilizing the new government infiltrated the north and carried out massacres, mostly against Tutsis. On the night of 18th March 1997 they raided Nyange Secondary school in the North West of the country. The rebels surrounded the school dining hall and classes when all students were doing their night studies. Students in class 6 were made to lie down and asked to separate themselves into two groups: Hutu and Tutsi. They refused.