A Congolese national was recently arrested in Rubavu District, Western Province for entering the country illegal.

Patia  Mwendanga was arrested by immigration officials at a border post, two years after he had been expelled from the country.

Mwendanga was on August 30, 2005 declared ‘persona non grata’ by a Rwandan court for illegally conducting political campaigns on Rwandan soil.

The Congolese is currently under detention in Rubavu. He is today due to appear before a court of lower instance in the district to hear his bail application ruling.

"He is a Congolese refugee with a Belgian refugee status.

He first violated a court order that expelled him out of the country by entering earlier this year from Burundi, only to come back last month,” Francois Senyenzi, the director of immigration in Rubavu and Nyabihu districts, said this week.

Senyenzi added that Mwendanga went out of the country with no exit visa and later entered illegally through DRC’s border.

He said that Mwendanga was conducting clandestine political meetings in Rwanda prior to his deportation two years ago.

Asked why authorities did not deport him again, Senyenzi said: "We had to respect his rights and take him to the judicial authorities. When we learnt about his problem, we did not immediately depot him,” Senyenzi said.
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