Repatriated refugees were security threat - Uganda

DAYS after close to 2,000 Rwandan refugees were repatriated from Uganda, the country yesterday said that the group had proved to be a source of insecurity. Uganda’s Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Tarsis Kabwegyere, pointed out that the group was acting that way because they had no one to mind them. “They were neither under any authority nor were they being assisted by UNHCR and partners,” he told reporters at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday. “Indeed, over this weekend, a Rwandan who had been denied asylum, was arrested in Bushenyi with a stolen gun from a police post in Nakivale Refugee settlement,” said the Ugandan minister. Kabwegyere denied a United Nations reports that his country deported the refugees, adding that it had only turned away asylum seekers who were unsuccessful in their bid for refugee status. “Various agencies have come up to misinform the public that refugees were forcefully repatriated – this is false,” he said. ‘The difference between an asylum seeker, refugee and illegal immigrant should be very clear to these champions of refugee rights”. The Minister’s remarks confirm comments made by Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Frank Mugambage, early this month, that some refugees had criminal records and some were running away from justice. Ends

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Repatriated refugees were security threat - Uganda