Uganda, Rwanda ministers meet over refugees

The tenth Rwanda-Uganda meeting on refugees started in Kampala Thursday with officials calling for the strengthening of the screening exercise to avoid recyclers who continue to increase the number of Rwandan refugees in Uganda.The meeting was attended by the Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, Marcel Gatsinzi, and his Ugandan counterpart, Dr. Steven Malinga.“The use of the biometric registration in our two states to identify recyclers in our respective countries and in our region is still a challenge,” Gatsinzi observed.He called on Rwandan refugees who may opt to remain in Uganda - in the framework of the cessation clause, to come to Rwanda and get identification documents.“For these individuals, we encourage them to come and get IDs or passports and freely come back to Uganda while enjoying their right to come and visit their relatives in Rwanda whenever they wish,” Gatsinzi said.In December last year, states hosting Rwandans refugees met in Geneva and agreed on modalities for implementing the cessation close come June next year. Statistics indicate that since 1994 up to this month (September), more than 3.4 million have returned to Rwanda and among them 349,141 repatriated from Uganda.Malinga said that a substantial number of Rwandan refugees staying in Uganda had resorted to registering as Congolese refugees in order to benefit from prima-facie refugee status.He added that the Ugandan government was now in the process of categorising Rwandan refugees under the exemption procedures and finding alternative status.Uganda is home to 17,232 Rwandan refugees who lived in refugee settlements of Nakivale, Oruchinga, KyakaII, Kyangwali, Kiryandongo and towns.

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Uganda, Rwanda ministers meet over refugees