Rwanda and United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have decided to close Gihembe refugee camp located in Gicumbi District in the Northern Province before the end of 2021.

In a joint statement, released on Thursday, September 16, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA) and the UNHCR said refugees were being relocated to Mahama camp in Kirehe District of the Eastern Province "for their well-being and safety."

Gicumbi District is mountainous and the topography threatened refugees’ security at the Gihembe camp, MINEMA and UNHCR said.

"The motive for this ongoing exercise is to settle refugees in a better place given that Gihembe camp is located in a high-risk area and is affected by environmental hazards caused by erosion and ravaging ravines, with aging infrastructure,” the statement continued.

"The concerned refugees will either be transferred to Mahama camp or register as urban refugees.”

Set up in December 1997, Gihembe camp hosted 9,922 refugees from the DR Congo.

Relocation of refugees from the camp started in March this year. So far, 2,392 people have been moved to Mahama camp.

The ministry told The New Times that "no activities related to hosting refugees" would be carried out at the Gihembe camp after its closure, adding that Mahama camp had more facilities, such as schools, which are in good condition.

Minema and the UNHCR said that the remaining families would be relocated by December 2021.

A number of refugees at Kigeme camp in Nyamagabe District of the Southern Province have also been moved to Mahama.

According to Minema, the total number of refugees living in Rwanda stood at 127,557 refugees at the end of May 2021.

The refugees of Congolese and Burundian nationalities live in six camps, namely Mahama, Gihembe, Nyabiheke, Mugombwa, Kigeme and Kiziba.