The Cessation Clause for Rwandan refugees is now in effect. When it was first mooted a few years ago, it met a lot of resistance and was subsequently postponed several times.

Those who opposed the lifting of the protection of those who fled between 1959 and 1998 fall into two categories; those who have no emotional attachment to Rwanda, the only homes they know are where they reside.

The second and most dangerous are those who have questions to answer regarding their role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Those are the ones pulling all possible strings and have even managed to rope in some sections of the international media that are no strangers to undermining Rwanda’s policies.

The decision to apply the Cessation Clause cannot be reversed, so it is a waste of time on their part and they know it. The best they can do is make enough noise to be heard and gain some sympathy from their host countries.

But recent demands by a man calling himself a refugee leader in Congo Brazzaville lifted the lid on their true fears of being repatriated. Among them was that Rwanda had never declared any blanket amnesty for the refugees!

What amnesty? A genuine refugee does not need any amnesty because being one is not a crime. It is those who fled this country with their hands dripping with blood that are sowing those seeds of discord and confusion with the hope of having their genocidal slate wiped clean.

As we have seen time and again, the Genocide suspects have their backers, some of who go as far back as a quarter century and are not yet ready to give up. But the crime will continuis imprescriptible; it does not go away with the lapse of time.