Flow of Congolese refugees slows down

The number of refugees crossing to Rwanda from Congo has dropped drastically, to one or two people a day, according to a statement from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.The statement was released at the conclusion of the relocation of about 20,000 refugees from Nkamira Transit Centre in Rubavu district to Kigeme Camp in the Southern Province.The exercise which was jointly carried out with the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), started early June following an influx of refugees from Congo fleeing conflicts from DRC.The relocation ended Tuesday. According to the ministry, incoming Congolese will be received in Kigali where they will go through the normal process of applying for refugee status as other asylum seekers. This does not mean that the reception activities at the border with Rubavu have come to a complete stop, according to the statement.“We are aware that although it is calmer now, the situation in DRC is still fragile, in case the situation changes and there is new influx of refugees, the ministry will resume receiving them at Nkamira and attend to them as we did before,” said Antoine Ruvebana, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary.Ruvebana added that few incoming Congolese may come visiting or rejoining families and therefore do not reflect characteristics of a refugee and their case will be transferred to Kigali where they will declare and defend their need to be protected as refugees.From there, according to the ministry, the will be catered for, depending on individual needs.Kigeme camp now hosts 14,045 refugees, while the remaining 6,000 have rejoined their families in other camps around the country or have found their own accommodation.The influx of Congolese refugees that has been prevalent for the past few months stems from instabilities in the eastern part of the vast country which are hinged on a mutiny by a group of officers disgruntled by the treatment they got from the central government.The mutineers, who have staged a movement they call M23, have among other complaints, the unwillingness by their government to repatriate thousands of Congolese refugees–most of them, they claim, are their relatives–from Rwanda.The over 50,000 refugees have been living in Rwanda since the late 90s and are staying in three camps across the country.The mutineers, most of whom having joined government as a result of a 2009 peace agreement between government and scores of rebel groups, accuse their government of not fully integrating them into the national armed forces, and that their benefits are not commensurate with their ranks.

National

Flow of Congolese refugees slows down