Senate passes amended Immigration Bill

KIGALI - The Senate, yesterday amended the Immigration Bill to ensure that binding elements within international treaties of integration are considered in the legislation, as proposed by President Paul Kagame. Presenting the amendments, the Minister in the President’s Office, Solina Nyirahabimana, said that the Head of State requested that that articles 21 and 28 be amended. Article 21 read, ‘every foreigner who is authorized to reside in Rwanda must comply with legal obligations as provided for by this law.’ “The President proposed that the line be amended to add; ‘unless otherwise provided by international conventions to which Rwanda is party’” Nyirahabimana told the Senate. She said that the President requested that the bill be aligned to some international treaties to which Rwanda is signatory, within the Immigration and Emigration law. He had also proposed that article 28 which concerns the issuance of emergency travel document be amended. The article reads that, ‘emergency travel document is a one-way travel document issued to a Rwandan national in case he/she is unable to fulfil other conditions in order to obtain other travel documents.’ “The President had proposed that a phrase reading that, such a document may be issued to a foreigner who lost a travel document while in Rwanda or who was born in Rwanda but cannot get travel document from his/her country of origin,’ be added in the article.” The president’s proposed amendments were unanimously adopted by Senators. Ends

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Senate passes amended Immigration Bill