Rwandans who were evicted from Tanzania and currently sheltered in Kiyanzi refugee Camp have raised concerns that their children will not be able to return to school due to lack of school fees and many other scholastic materials.
Of these children, it was noticed that there are some who study in Tanzania and others study in Rwanda; however, both side their parents are living in Kiyanzi refugee Camp after Tanzania decided to expel them out of its territory.
IGIHE Reporter toured Kiyanzi Refugee Camp and found that some children were very sad and lonely while others were taking care of theirs sisters and brothers without hope of returning to school.
It is scheduled that the 2014 academic year will start in January next year.
On condition of anonymity one of the children told our reporter that “We are now getting familiar with the life in refugee camp. We used to have different schedules and parents used to take care of us, we danced and we used to do our home works, but today we do not have hope of returning to school due to lack of school fees and other materials. Today our parents are unable to pay for us”.
These children felt as if they were abandoned. However Rwanda’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) has announced that there are plans of resettling them and after resettlement the next step will be to help them returning to school.
Through arrangements, small children in the camp are receiving basic education. However, Parents are concerned with those who are in Secondary schools and risk to drop out the school due to financial means.
On another side, Parents are optimistic that UNESCO, UNICEF and many other donors will intervene in this situation.
Meanwhile, those Refugees said they are not hungry thanking the Government of its continuous supports.
Rwanda has been struggling with the resettlement of refugees who were expelled from Tanzania. Through MIDIMAR, refugees are provided with different domestic equipments, food and shelter.
angedelavictoire@igihe.com
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