Sixteen Rwandan nationals were on Wednesday, September 8, received at the Cyanika Border Post in Burera District, after they were deported from neighbouring Uganda.

The nine men, five women and two children were received by Rwanda's Immigration authorities Wednesday evening.

Speaking to journalists Thursday, they said they had spent 2-14 days in detention at Kisoro police station in Kisoro, south-western Uganda.

Most of them were arrested while heading back to Rwanda, they said. "We were arrested for being Rwandan,” one of them said.

While in detention they were beaten and dispossessed of their valuables, including money, some of them told The New Times at Cyanika Sector offices in Burera.

They were also regularly beaten up for no reason, they said.

Most of them had travelled to Uganda for business between 2016 and 2018, they told our reporter. "I was surprised when I was arrested because I committed no crime,” one of them said.

Hundreds of Rwandan nationals have been dumped at Rwanda-Uganda border crossings over the last few years, with many saying they had been tortured and held illegally without trial.

Kigali also accuses Uganda of supporting rebel groups bent on destabilising Rwanda and has advised Rwandans against travelling to Uganda.

Both countries held a series of talks in 2019 and 2020 with little success.  

More details later…