Uganda sends back 3,000 Rwandans
Oct 04, 2007
OVER 3,000 Rwandan refugees who have been staying in Kibati zone, Isingiro district were yesterday sent back to Rwanda and their makeshift camp closed.
By Kyomuhendo Muhanga
OVER 3,000 Rwandan refugees who have been staying in Kibati zone, Isingiro district were yesterday sent back to Rwanda and their makeshift camp closed.
The Rwandans, who came from Tanzania, were sent home after Uganda declined to grant them refugee status. Kibati is close to the Tanzanian border.
Most of the refugees are from the majority Hutu tribe. They fled their country during the 1994 war between the regime of Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic army.
They were first granted asylum in Tanzania. But in 2001, they fled to Uganda after Tanzania cancelled their refugee status and told them to return home since the war was over, explained Douglas Asiimwe, the senior refugee protection officer in the prime minister’s office.
Asiimwe said they could not be granted refugee status in Uganda since their country was now peaceful.
“They have been fending for
themselves since 2001. Time has come for them to go home and enjoy the peace there. There is no war in Rwanda,†remarked Asiimwe.
Dorotia Nyiramajyambere, 57, who said she had stayed at Kibati since 2003, narrated how they were surrounded by the police and local defence forces in the wee hours of yesterday and forced to board the Fuso trucks to go home.
“We were not informed that they would take us. They just came and surrounded us in the morning and told us we are going home. None of us was prepared,†she said.
Another refugee who declined to reveal his name, said he would not have returned to Rwanda if he had the option.
“I fled Rwanda because of human abuse. I lost all my family members while in Kigali and I am alone now. I am being taken back to the country I fled from. God, take care of me,†he said after closing his eyes in ernest prayer.
But Eunice Kisembo, a senior immigration officer and the spokesperson for the operation codenamed ‘Kibati caseload operation go back home’ insisted that the repatriation was voluntary.
“They requested to be assisted to go back to their homes in Rwanda and the government of Uganda has provided transport and other humanitarian aid to help them go home.â€
This was in line with the tripartite agreement between Uganda and Rwanda, she added.
By 3:00pm, 20 lorries had left Kibati for Byumba in Kigali via the Katuna border post. About 300 other Rwandans, who have been living in Kyaka II, were also sent home.
Grace Turyagumanawe, the Police commissioner in charge of operations, oversaw the exercise.
“The operation has been okay so far,†he said, adding that the Police was there to maintain law and order.
One refugee tried to committ suicide by drinking Supona, a drug commonly used for cleaning diary animal. The Police took him to a health centre in Isingiro for treatment.
Some refugees had livestock, but were not allowed to take their animals along with them. They were only allowed to take foodstuff, household items and light property such as bicycles.
Frank Gatare, the chairperson for the Rwanda national commission for refugees, said his government had set up a reception centre at Byumba, where the refugees would be looked after before they are relocated to their villages.
“All is organised for them back at home,†Gatare said.
The desk officer for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in charge of the western region, Khan Ayaz, said the commission was not involved in the repatriation since the group had not been recognised as refugees. He said he was at Kibati as a mere observer.
During a tripartite commission meeting in Kigali in July, Rwanda and Uganda agreed to repatriate 5,000 Rwandans living at Kibati. But some disappeared from the makeshift camp after learning about the plan.
According to statistics at the UN refugee agency, Uganda still hosts about 20,000 Rwandan refugees. Most of them are in Nakivale and Oruchinga settlement camps in Isingiro district and Kyaka II in Kyenjojo district.
OVER 3,000 Rwandan refugees who have been staying in Kibati zone, Isingiro district were yesterday sent back to Rwanda and their makeshift camp closed.
The Rwandans, who came from Tanzania, were sent home after Uganda declined to grant them refugee status. Kibati is close to the Tanzanian border.
Most of the refugees are from the majority Hutu tribe. They fled their country during the 1994 war between the regime of Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic army.
They were first granted asylum in Tanzania. But in 2001, they fled to Uganda after Tanzania cancelled their refugee status and told them to return home since the war was over, explained Douglas Asiimwe, the senior refugee protection officer in the prime minister’s office.
Asiimwe said they could not be granted refugee status in Uganda since their country was now peaceful.
“They have been fending for
themselves since 2001. Time has come for them to go home and enjoy the peace there. There is no war in Rwanda,†remarked Asiimwe.
Dorotia Nyiramajyambere, 57, who said she had stayed at Kibati since 2003, narrated how they were surrounded by the police and local defence forces in the wee hours of yesterday and forced to board the Fuso trucks to go home.
“We were not informed that they would take us. They just came and surrounded us in the morning and told us we are going home. None of us was prepared,†she said.
Another refugee who declined to reveal his name, said he would not have returned to Rwanda if he had the option.
“I fled Rwanda because of human abuse. I lost all my family members while in Kigali and I am alone now. I am being taken back to the country I fled from. God, take care of me,†he said after closing his eyes in ernest prayer.
But Eunice Kisembo, a senior immigration officer and the spokesperson for the operation codenamed ‘Kibati caseload operation go back home’ insisted that the repatriation was voluntary.
“They requested to be assisted to go back to their homes in Rwanda and the government of Uganda has provided transport and other humanitarian aid to help them go home.â€
This was in line with the tripartite agreement between Uganda and Rwanda, she added.
By 3:00pm, 20 lorries had left Kibati for Byumba in Kigali via the Katuna border post. About 300 other Rwandans, who have been living in Kyaka II, were also sent home.
Grace Turyagumanawe, the Police commissioner in charge of operations, oversaw the exercise.
“The operation has been okay so far,†he said, adding that the Police was there to maintain law and order.
One refugee tried to committ suicide by drinking Supona, a drug commonly used for cleaning diary animal. The Police took him to a health centre in Isingiro for treatment.
Some refugees had livestock, but were not allowed to take their animals along with them. They were only allowed to take foodstuff, household items and light property such as bicycles.
Frank Gatare, the chairperson for the Rwanda national commission for refugees, said his government had set up a reception centre at Byumba, where the refugees would be looked after before they are relocated to their villages.
“All is organised for them back at home,†Gatare said.
The desk officer for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in charge of the western region, Khan Ayaz, said the commission was not involved in the repatriation since the group had not been recognised as refugees. He said he was at Kibati as a mere observer.
During a tripartite commission meeting in Kigali in July, Rwanda and Uganda agreed to repatriate 5,000 Rwandans living at Kibati. But some disappeared from the makeshift camp after learning about the plan.
According to statistics at the UN refugee agency, Uganda still hosts about 20,000 Rwandan refugees. Most of them are in Nakivale and Oruchinga settlement camps in Isingiro district and Kyaka II in Kyenjojo district.