Rwanda refugees free to return home
Nov 18, 2003
The Rwandan government wants Rwandan refugees to go back. Talk of the Town had interviewed Rwanda's ambassador to Uganda, Christine Umotoni and below are the excerpts
The Rwandan government wants Rwandan refugees to go back. Talk of the Town had interviewed Rwanda's ambassador to Uganda, Christine Umotoni and below are the excerpts
QUESTION: The Rwandan government wants Rwandan refugees to go back. But refugees are not willing. They say some returnees have been killed. How are you going to address their concerns?
ANSWER: Refugee repatriation is a process. It begins when their country of origin accepts them to return. The refugees first need to be told that they have a right to return. All this requires information and discussion.
A few of them may be criminals who committed crimes during the genocide and they are trying to confuse the innocent. But they are also welcome. When they come, they will face justice, serve their sentence if convicted, and continue a normal life there after. But first, we would like to distinguish fugitives from refugees.
The repatriation process started long ago. We repatriated more than one million refugees from Congo and many from Tanzania and Burundi. Right now the same exercise is going on in Mozambique and Zambia.
We have signed a tripartite agreement with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the government of Uganda to work together and implement the exercise. The Rwanda government is very keen on the rights of Rwandese.
We believe it is a fundamental right for every body to have a homeland. Refugees under the protection of UNHCR will be allowed to go to Rwanda on an exploratory trip and find out for themselves.
The 1959 refugees were not allowed to re-take properties they left behind. Will these refugees be allowed to retain their property in Rwanda?
The sooner they return, the better. You can imagine if you left your property and came back after 50 years. For the 1959 case, nobody denied the refugees their property. It was rather a political compromise in which most of them agreed voluntarily not to press for their property to avoid any clashes.
The refugees had stayed away for so long, more than 30 years. Infact, some people whose land had been taken by government was returned. All those who have returned after the 1994 war have been given back their property. As soon as they return, they will be given back their property.
Rwanda has just come out of presidential and parliamentary elections returning President Paul Kagame to power. Is there really any change on the ground to warrant the return of the refugees?
The fact that we conducted these elections in a free and fair atmosphere is a good guarantee for the stability of the nation. There were observers and everything went on smoothly.
Some refugees in Nakivale and Orukyinga settlements say they hear returnees from Congo were killed when they tried to claim their property. What do you say about this?
It is not true. It’s mere propaganda from those who do not want to go home and instill fear in others. I have never heard cases of people who were killed because of property. The refugees will be given guarantees. They better go back and work on their farms. They should not subject their children to perpetual exile.
Some of us have ever lived as refugees. It is not good to make your child grow up with the trauma of being a refugee. The government of Rwanda cares so much about those children.
How many Rwandan refugees live in various countries in the region?
Different countries have different figures. The biggest bulk of refugees was in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) and Burundi. They were repatriated. The biggest number now is in Uganda. UNHCR puts the number of refugees in Uganda at 25,000
Has your government put in place the necessary infrastructure to receive such an overwhelming number of returnees?
The biggest number is already settled. There is a package for the ones who want to return. There will be reception centres and the logistics of transporting them. Towards the end of this month, the Rwanda refugee repatriation commission will come to Uganda and sensitise the refugees.
It will also draw up a more detailed plan of repatriation. Some refugees have been returning on their own. Some come to the embassy here. We assist them and they go.
What is the situation of the relationship between Uganda and Rwanda?
On the regional front, Rwanda is a bit worried about incidents that have been happening in DRC indicating support to Interahamwe to attack positions in Kivu near the Rwanda border.
About Uganda-Rwanda relations, we are consolidating all the efforts to return to the normal state-to-state relations. There is every indication that the mood is better now.
Once in a while, there have been minor problems. But the fact that we are able to solve them using the ordinary channels is a step ahead.
The only thing that we have to seriously work on is never to address our concerns in the media. The mood is better now. We just have to strengthen it further.
QUESTION: The Rwandan government wants Rwandan refugees to go back. But refugees are not willing. They say some returnees have been killed. How are you going to address their concerns?
ANSWER: Refugee repatriation is a process. It begins when their country of origin accepts them to return. The refugees first need to be told that they have a right to return. All this requires information and discussion.
A few of them may be criminals who committed crimes during the genocide and they are trying to confuse the innocent. But they are also welcome. When they come, they will face justice, serve their sentence if convicted, and continue a normal life there after. But first, we would like to distinguish fugitives from refugees.
The repatriation process started long ago. We repatriated more than one million refugees from Congo and many from Tanzania and Burundi. Right now the same exercise is going on in Mozambique and Zambia.
We have signed a tripartite agreement with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the government of Uganda to work together and implement the exercise. The Rwanda government is very keen on the rights of Rwandese.
We believe it is a fundamental right for every body to have a homeland. Refugees under the protection of UNHCR will be allowed to go to Rwanda on an exploratory trip and find out for themselves.
The 1959 refugees were not allowed to re-take properties they left behind. Will these refugees be allowed to retain their property in Rwanda?
The sooner they return, the better. You can imagine if you left your property and came back after 50 years. For the 1959 case, nobody denied the refugees their property. It was rather a political compromise in which most of them agreed voluntarily not to press for their property to avoid any clashes.
The refugees had stayed away for so long, more than 30 years. Infact, some people whose land had been taken by government was returned. All those who have returned after the 1994 war have been given back their property. As soon as they return, they will be given back their property.
Rwanda has just come out of presidential and parliamentary elections returning President Paul Kagame to power. Is there really any change on the ground to warrant the return of the refugees?
The fact that we conducted these elections in a free and fair atmosphere is a good guarantee for the stability of the nation. There were observers and everything went on smoothly.
Some refugees in Nakivale and Orukyinga settlements say they hear returnees from Congo were killed when they tried to claim their property. What do you say about this?
It is not true. It’s mere propaganda from those who do not want to go home and instill fear in others. I have never heard cases of people who were killed because of property. The refugees will be given guarantees. They better go back and work on their farms. They should not subject their children to perpetual exile.
Some of us have ever lived as refugees. It is not good to make your child grow up with the trauma of being a refugee. The government of Rwanda cares so much about those children.
How many Rwandan refugees live in various countries in the region?
Different countries have different figures. The biggest bulk of refugees was in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) and Burundi. They were repatriated. The biggest number now is in Uganda. UNHCR puts the number of refugees in Uganda at 25,000
Has your government put in place the necessary infrastructure to receive such an overwhelming number of returnees?
The biggest number is already settled. There is a package for the ones who want to return. There will be reception centres and the logistics of transporting them. Towards the end of this month, the Rwanda refugee repatriation commission will come to Uganda and sensitise the refugees.
It will also draw up a more detailed plan of repatriation. Some refugees have been returning on their own. Some come to the embassy here. We assist them and they go.
What is the situation of the relationship between Uganda and Rwanda?
On the regional front, Rwanda is a bit worried about incidents that have been happening in DRC indicating support to Interahamwe to attack positions in Kivu near the Rwanda border.
About Uganda-Rwanda relations, we are consolidating all the efforts to return to the normal state-to-state relations. There is every indication that the mood is better now.
Once in a while, there have been minor problems. But the fact that we are able to solve them using the ordinary channels is a step ahead.
The only thing that we have to seriously work on is never to address our concerns in the media. The mood is better now. We just have to strengthen it further.