Government efforts to encourage voluntary repatriation of all Rwandan refugees are being hampered by unfounded rumours of persecution back home, a Cabinet minister has said.

In an interview, the Minister for Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs, Seraphine Mukantabana, said it was awful for some refugees to dissuade willing Rwandans from voluntarily returning home based on lies.

 "Most of them are evading justice because of the crimes they committed, but we are working closely with the host countries to address this problem,” she said last week.

Over 3.5 million Rwandans have voluntarily returned home since 1995 while over 70,000 are still holed up in various countries as government continues to encourage them to repatriate.

According to the ministry, about 6,000 people have returned since the invocation of the session clause in June last year.

Another 200 refugees have received national passports allowing them to remain in the host countries as Rwandans and not as refugees.

Those in need of passports can apply on the Immigration and Emigration website or at Rwandan embassies in the host countries.

The cessation clause left refugees with options of either returning home or remaining abroad as Rwandan nationals with the necessary identification documents particularly passports.

In an interview with The New Times,   Stanislas Harerimana, a former deputy prosecutor general who returned at the end of last year from Swaziland, said he faced a similar problem with people in the camp dissuading him from repatriating.

"Some individual discouraged me when I made it clear that I was repatriating. I think government needs to come up with a strategy to address this issue because many refugees are willing to return home,” he said.

 Previously, while visiting Rwanda to assess whether the situation in the country favoured the return of refugees, a delegation of Zambian Members of Parliament said it was important for the two governments to work closely to prevent some detractors who mislead others.

"Some of these refugee leaders are intellectuals.  They know what they’re doing. However, we have to intervene and pave way for the return of refugees,” Abdul Simwaya, a member of the delegation said then.

 Zambia is home to an estimated 4,000 Rwandan refugees, mostly accommodated in Maheba camp in the North-Western Province of the Southern African country.   

Other countries that host many refugees include DRC, Uganda and Mozambique.