KIGALI - 236 Rwandan children adopted by foreign families during or after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, are living very comfortable lives, the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, Dr. Jean D’Arc Mujawamariya said yesterday.

Minister Mujawamariya was appearing before the Lower Chamber of Parliament, yesterday, to give an update about the current state of Rwanda’s vulnerable children.

MP Gédéon Kayinamura, kicked off the question and answer session asking what measures the government has in place to follow up the children years after their adoption.

Mujawamariya told the parliamentarians that the government had not given up on following up its children saying that the embassies had been charged with the job.

"We obviously haven’t given up on these children. The embassies are doing a great job of following up and every three months, the families give these embassies a report on progress,” she said

MP Tharcisse Shamakokera wondered if the children, who by now, are young adults still considered themselves Rwandans.

"Everyone has talked about the 200 plus children who were adopted by foreigners. Are these children still Rwandans? Do they still consider themselves Rwandans? Something needs to be done. Embassies cannot be charged with something as specific as this,” he said.

"The issue of children who were taken to Italy was followed up by the government through a lawyer hired by MINIJUST and there were negotiations with the new families of those children, but it wasn’t easy, I must tell you,” she said
Mujawamariya pointed out that of the 236 children who had been adopted, 70 of them were in the United States, 88 in France, 32 in Switzerland and 1 in Benin, though some were also adopted by foreigners who had been living in Rwanda for long.

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