180 Rwandans return from DR Congo

UP to 181 Rwandans last week returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo after spending nearly 20 years there. The latest batch of 106 crossed the Rubavu border on Friday, following another group of 75 who returned on Tuesday. The returnees, who comprised only two males above 18 years, said they were happy to be home after a long time. Echoing what thousands who repatriated over the years have stated, the returnees said that they had been lied to by some of their colleagues who played a role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, about the situation in the country. Jean Claude Gahinja, who left Rwanda in 1994 and hails from Musanze District in the former Kinigi Commune, said he had been yearning to return but most of his peers, who have joined militia groups, had advised him against the move. He said they told him Rwanda was yet to stabilise and that he would be targeted upon return. But, he, and others were sensistised by others returnees, who returned to DR Congo to give them firsthand information about the current state of Rwanda.These include Marceline Uwamungu, who repatriated two years ago but went back to mobilise her relatives that had hitherto refused to return.“I thought it was important to go back and give the true picture of the country. In DRC forests, people live in captivity. I wanted to go and prove that what they are told is false, that no one gets killed when they return home,” she said.According to Straton Kamanzi, the manager of Nkamira Transit Centre, the returnees whose families are within the proximity of the centre had immediately left, while others will also leave for their respective villages soon.He said that before they go home, they are given basic materials such as foodstuff to take them up to three months as they resettle.

National

180 Rwandans return from DR Congo