The Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (Midmar) has started to distribute health insurance cards (Mutuelle de Sante) and scholastic materials to over 5,700 Rwandans and their school-going children who were forcefully evicted from Tanzania last year.

The campaign will be rolled out in all districts where the evictees have been settled.

This comes days after the ministry announced that the evictees will soon be moved to permanent homes.

Over 14,000 individuals crossed into Rwanda following their controversial expulsion from Tanzania last August. About 8,300 were later reunited with their families in various parts of the country while the government temporarily resettled the rest in various districts across the country.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign in Ruhashya Sector, Huye District on Wednesday, Minister Seraphine Mukantabana promised the evictees that they  will soon be reintegrated into the community.

"We will not abandon you. Rwanda is a country that cares for the life of its citizens,” Mukantabana told the evictees

She said as part of the long-term plan to help uplift the lives of the evictees, the government intends to enrol the evictees in vocational training centres to acquire practical and life skills.

 "We will help you create off-farm jobs,” Mukantabana said. 

Huye mayor Eugene Kayiranga Muzuka said his district will do its best  to improve the living conditions of the evictees.

About 75 families, with over 150 members, have been resettled in Huye District, Southern Province.

Fraternal relationship

Between August and December 2013, over 14,000 people who were living in Tanzania crossed into Rwanda. Many of them lost their property as they fled for dear life. 

After their sudden arrival, the evictees were accommodated in Kiyanzi and Rukara transit camps in Kirehe and Kayonza Districts, respectively.

Early this year, the government decided to close the camps and resettle the evictees in the community. 

Today, officials say the camps have been fully vacated and the over 5,500 evictees who were still living there were dispatched to districts across the country where they are being helped to start a new life.

Nyagatare District received the biggest number of evictees with over 1,000 individuals.

Residents have described their relationships with the evictees as ‘cordial and fraternal’.