Rwandan refugees in Uganda: Victims or pawns (Part Two)

A continuation of last Sunday’s article on Rwandan refugees in Uganda. In December, 2007 media reports indicated that Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) had arrested 20 Rwandans heading to bases of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) at Katete, in Isingiro District near the Uganda-DRC border. The group was coming from Nakivale refugee camp in western Uganda. It is on record that the UN Group of Experts’ report in November 2009 named FDLR’s ‘Colonel’ Wenceslas Nizeyimana who had been based in Kampala (he went to Kampala in March 2004) for being the conduit of recruits and supplies to FDLR in Eastern Congo. Nizeyimana had facilitated the September 2003 visit to North Kivu by Ignace Murwanyashyaka, FDLR’s head, by commanding men assigned for his security from and back to the Beni airstrip in Eastern Congo. It should be remembered that Rwanda’s Parliament, on Tuesday July 25, July 2006 demanded “a report detailing how the dissident Forces Democratic Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) leader, Ignace Murwanashyaka, got the country’s [Uganda] travel documents” after it transpired that he had traveled to Eastern Congo through Uganda and was using Ugandan travel documents coordinated by Nizeyimana. The two cases mentioned above point to a network of FDLR Interahamwe activists that use the refugees for their activities while intimidating them from returning to Rwanda. Its choice of authors by the Researchers is also interesting: Rene Lemarchand, Gerald Prunier and Filip Reyntjens have been known for their work for, support and advocacy the genocidal regime and what remains of it in the form of FDLR. It is known that Prof. Reyntjens worked for the ethnic regime in Rwanda as an advisor and continued advising its remnants in the camps of the then Zaire and has all along predicted the fall of the government since 1994. In fact quoting Kenneth Roth, the perennial or rather life executive Director at Human Rights Watch, in view of his anti Rwanda stand and the recent attempt to black mail the Rwandan government to accept HRW’s representative with forged documents is unacceptable. Researchers told guests that were invited to attend the official launch of the report that, “Furthermore, there is clearly widespread pressure to join the RPF – which is, in effect, the only active political party in the country. There are officially 10 political parties in Rwanda, but they all function under the RPF because all parties have to be part of the Forum”. The above would be excused if it came from groups “Rwanda opposition groups” and not groups claiming to carry out research, else it is an insult to the people of Rwanda and political parties in Rwanda in particular. The Researchers’ recommendation to the international Community that, ‘these reasons reflect many of the dynamics that were at play in the pre-genocide context in Rwanda in 1994” is simply an insult to Rwandans and all they have achieved in last 16 years. There have been and there will be Rwandan refugees in Uganda and possibly others countries. There will be genuine refugees among them. Research in reasons that prompted them to seek refuge and possible solutions will need to be carried out, however, Researchers will need to: carry out research based on facts that are verifiable, will need to get facts from reliable sources and possibly visit Rwanda to see and hear for themselves. Had the Researchers in Kampala bothered to travel and carry out independent investigations the results of their research may have been useful to all stakeholders. Unfortunately, they chose to interview a minor fraction of the subjects who may have been “intoxicated” with misinformation and used as “pawns” by criminals running away from justice, as was the case in the camps of Zaire and made references straight from people who have and continue to work for the downfall of the government of Rwanda. Refugees in Uganda need true and updated information about Rwanda so that they can make informed choices. Email : ekaba2002@yahoo.com