His local priest told everyone to pray and prepare for death as the National Forces of Liberation (FNL), a Hutu rebel movement, moved through the camp targeting mostly Banyamulenge refugees.

Mr Shikiro is a strikingly tall and gently spoken Congolese-Banyamulenge man, who after more than a decade living in refugee camps now calls Albury in regional New South Wales home.

He cannot look at photos or videos of the camp, and the trauma has made it too difficult to share his testimony at a local commemoration service in NSW on Saturday.

For Mr Shikiro, his Christian faith and prayer help comfort him, but it is the battle for justice that propels him on from the horror of the past.

"We are still pushing to see how we can get justice for our people who have been [victims of] genocide,"  said the president of the Banyamulenge community in Australia, Moise Nzovu Riukundo.