Rwandan refugees repatriated
Aug 04, 2009
Uganda has repatriated 5,531 Rwandan refugees following a meeting between the two governments in April. The meeting set July 31 as the deadline to see off the Rwandan refugees who were given asylum in Uganda during the 1994 genocide.
By Abdulkarim Ssengendo
Uganda has repatriated 5,531 Rwandan refugees following a meeting between the two governments in April. The meeting set July 31 as the deadline to see off the Rwandan refugees who were given asylum in Uganda during the 1994 genocide.
The refugees were drawn from Nakivale, Kyangwari, Orukinga and Kyaka refugee camps in western Uganda. On Thursday, the last batch of over 813 refugees was ferried back to Rwanda in over 10 buses escorted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees officials and the Ugandan Police.
They were offloaded at Rukomo transit Centre in Gicumbi district in Rwanda, 27km from Katuna, the Uganda-Rwanda border. They were received by the executive secretary of the Rwandan National Council for Refugees, Innocent Ngango.
They will be handed over to local leaders of their villages of origin, who will help them locate their relatives. An official, Douglas Asiimwe, said the returnees were provided with food to last three months and other items to help them start a new life.
He said there were over 10,000 refugees in Uganda, who had refused to return home. Asiimwe added that some of the refugees fled to Tanzania and Malawi.
He said they might have feared that a forced repatriation would be imposed on them, especially after a deadline was set like it was in Tanzania in 1996.
Asiimwe said on August 6 and 7, the two governments (Uganda and Rwanda) would hold a meeting to extend the repatriation exercise.
Uganda has repatriated 5,531 Rwandan refugees following a meeting between the two governments in April. The meeting set July 31 as the deadline to see off the Rwandan refugees who were given asylum in Uganda during the 1994 genocide.
The refugees were drawn from Nakivale, Kyangwari, Orukinga and Kyaka refugee camps in western Uganda. On Thursday, the last batch of over 813 refugees was ferried back to Rwanda in over 10 buses escorted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees officials and the Ugandan Police.
They were offloaded at Rukomo transit Centre in Gicumbi district in Rwanda, 27km from Katuna, the Uganda-Rwanda border. They were received by the executive secretary of the Rwandan National Council for Refugees, Innocent Ngango.
They will be handed over to local leaders of their villages of origin, who will help them locate their relatives. An official, Douglas Asiimwe, said the returnees were provided with food to last three months and other items to help them start a new life.
He said there were over 10,000 refugees in Uganda, who had refused to return home. Asiimwe added that some of the refugees fled to Tanzania and Malawi.
He said they might have feared that a forced repatriation would be imposed on them, especially after a deadline was set like it was in Tanzania in 1996.
Asiimwe said on August 6 and 7, the two governments (Uganda and Rwanda) would hold a meeting to extend the repatriation exercise.