2,000 illegal Rwandan refugees still in Uganda
Oct 08, 2007
<br>ABOUT 2,000 Rwandan refugees who had camped at Kibati zone in Isingiro district are suspected to have escaped before they could be repatriated back home. Their whereabouts are unknown.
By Kyomuhendo Muhanga
ABOUT 2,000 Rwandan refugees who had camped at Kibati zone in Isingiro district are suspected to have escaped before they could be repatriated back home. Their whereabouts are unknown.
“The initial number of refugees at Kibati was slightly above 5,000 in 2004 but during repatriation, there were only 2,550,†said a security source recently.
“The number we repatriated was below what we expected. It could have been less by about 500,†said Douglas Asiimwe, a senior protection officer in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Asiimwe said some of the refugees might have returned home while others relocated to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, adding that statistics showed that at least 500 Rwandan refugees moved to the districts of Mubende, Kiboga and Kyenjojo.
Last week, about 2,600 Rwanda refugees who have been staying at Kibati and about 400 from Kyaka II in Kyenjojo were sent back to Rwanda. Subsequently, the makeshift houses at Kibati were closed down.
The refugees insisted they were forced to leave, but the spokesperson of the operation, Eunice Kisembo, said the repatriation was voluntary.
The refugees, most of whom were of Hutu origin, fled Rwanda during the 1994 war between the then Rwandan government led by Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic Army.
They first fled to Tanzania where they were given refugee status. In 2001, they came to Uganda after Tanzania cancelled their refugee status and urged them to return home, saying Rwanda was peaceful.
Uganda also denied them asylum citing the same reasons. They were asked to go home but they camped at Kibati, 2km outside Nakivale Refugee Resettlement Camp.
Kisembo said the immigration department was investigating the whereabouts of those who were not repatriated.
“We shall tell you when our investigation is over,†Kisembo said on Sunday.
During a tripartite commission meeting in Kigali in July, the Rwandan and Ugandan governments agreed to repatriate the refugees living in Kibati. The two countries also agreed to facilitate the repatriation.
Meanwhile, registration of the Rwandan refugees who want to go back home voluntarily started at Nakivale, Oruchinga in Isingiro and Kyaka I and Kyaka II in Kyenjojo district.
According to statistics from the United Nations refugee agency, Uganda still hosts about 20,000 Rwandan refugees.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has repeatedly called upon all citizens still in exile to return to their country and develop it.
Statistics in Kigali show that over two million refugees have since gone back home.
Political analysts said those afraid of going back were possible criminals who fear facing the Gacaca courts for crimes they committed during the 100 days of genocide in which about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
ABOUT 2,000 Rwandan refugees who had camped at Kibati zone in Isingiro district are suspected to have escaped before they could be repatriated back home. Their whereabouts are unknown.
“The initial number of refugees at Kibati was slightly above 5,000 in 2004 but during repatriation, there were only 2,550,†said a security source recently.
“The number we repatriated was below what we expected. It could have been less by about 500,†said Douglas Asiimwe, a senior protection officer in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Asiimwe said some of the refugees might have returned home while others relocated to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, adding that statistics showed that at least 500 Rwandan refugees moved to the districts of Mubende, Kiboga and Kyenjojo.
Last week, about 2,600 Rwanda refugees who have been staying at Kibati and about 400 from Kyaka II in Kyenjojo were sent back to Rwanda. Subsequently, the makeshift houses at Kibati were closed down.
The refugees insisted they were forced to leave, but the spokesperson of the operation, Eunice Kisembo, said the repatriation was voluntary.
The refugees, most of whom were of Hutu origin, fled Rwanda during the 1994 war between the then Rwandan government led by Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic Army.
They first fled to Tanzania where they were given refugee status. In 2001, they came to Uganda after Tanzania cancelled their refugee status and urged them to return home, saying Rwanda was peaceful.
Uganda also denied them asylum citing the same reasons. They were asked to go home but they camped at Kibati, 2km outside Nakivale Refugee Resettlement Camp.
Kisembo said the immigration department was investigating the whereabouts of those who were not repatriated.
“We shall tell you when our investigation is over,†Kisembo said on Sunday.
During a tripartite commission meeting in Kigali in July, the Rwandan and Ugandan governments agreed to repatriate the refugees living in Kibati. The two countries also agreed to facilitate the repatriation.
Meanwhile, registration of the Rwandan refugees who want to go back home voluntarily started at Nakivale, Oruchinga in Isingiro and Kyaka I and Kyaka II in Kyenjojo district.
According to statistics from the United Nations refugee agency, Uganda still hosts about 20,000 Rwandan refugees.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has repeatedly called upon all citizens still in exile to return to their country and develop it.
Statistics in Kigali show that over two million refugees have since gone back home.
Political analysts said those afraid of going back were possible criminals who fear facing the Gacaca courts for crimes they committed during the 100 days of genocide in which about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.