UNHCR commends Rwanda’s hospitality towards refugees

The United Nations High Commission for refugees (UNHCR) has commended Rwanda’s commitment to supporting refugees and catering for their welfare. This was said by Neimah Warsame, the outgoing UNHCR representative in Rwanda after she paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame to bid him farewell. Warsame who has worked in Rwanda for over three years is leaving for another UN assignment in neighbouring Uganda. She said UNHCR was grateful to the government and Rwandans for hosting and caring for the refugees. “We wanted to express our gratitude for the unmatched generosity of the Rwandan leadership and Rwandans in general towards refugees. I have worked in several countries but Rwanda is exemplary,” Warsame said. She said the organisation had been able to develop a strong relationship with the government through the Ministry for Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, immigration department, National Police, district officials as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs amongst other government offices. She also briefed the President on some of the achievements so far attained such as the comprehensive solution for the Rwandan refugees and the invocation of the cessation clause to assist Rwanda refugees return home. The comprehensive solution seeks to identify and implement solutions for refugees who fled the country between 1959 and 1998. About 15,000 returnees are expected this year with 2,104 refugees having returned at the beginning of the year. Refugees whose situation falls within the scope of cessation have the possibility to choose between voluntary repatriation and local integration. She expressed content in the way Rwanda handled the situation of the former M23 fighters. “The government of Rwanda is dealing with the situation of the former fighters of M23 well. During the Kampala/Nairobi agreement, there was a provision of amnesty for the former fighters and the whole idea is now to look comprehensively in terms of what kinds of solutions will be put forward for them,” she said. She said that together with the government, they had come up with a questionnaire for profiling individual refugees to determine the way forward. UNHCR has been involved in refugee affairs in the country making interventions in education provision, health and nutrition, and protection amongst other ways.