Igihe.com has been investigating the situation of refugees at the largest refugee camp in Rwanda at Gihembe in the Northern district of Gicumbi. Our reporter Supreeta Gubbala camped there and we bring you in series her experience at the camp.
PART 1.
Similar to many conflicts from which refugees seek asylum, care for refugees has never been an obvious formula in which the competition for a monopoly will probably never occur.
The various national and international actors carefully balancing and dividing the daily needs of refugees in precarious situations and countries not their own, is one of a poor mother attempting to feed her hungry children, and more often than not, requires choosing between a lesser of two evils.
Rwanda’s largest refugee camp for asylum seekers is at Gihembe Camp located in the district of Gicumbi. Home to currently over 20,000 refugees, the camp began with 14,000 residents in January of 1997 when it first opened its doors to the Congolese refugees. The majority of residents escaped from the eastern province of DRC in ’97 and has since been at Gihembe camp.
Currently, the UNHCR works with six implementing partners to care for the population specifically at Gihembe; ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), AHA (African Humanitarian Action), JRS (Jesuit Relief Services), AVSI (The Association of Volunteers in International Service), ARC (American Refugee Committee), MIDIMAR (Ministry of Disaster Relief and Management and operational partner WFP (World Food Program).
Each particular partner has their own task they address however, the UNHCR and MIDIMAR work together to oversee each partner in their task.
ARC has a larger staff of 71 at the camp working at Gihembe to provide water, sanitation, shelter, health, and nutritional services.
WFP provides food at the camp while AHA distributes food, firewood and non-food items, yet the partner has only three staffs working on the project with a WFP representative only on site for food delivery.
JRS is in charge of education at the camp, but once again with only a staff of eight working in the camps.
Funded by operational partner UNICEF, AVSI focuses on child protection in the camps.
The only national partner, MIDIMAR, is in charge of direct management of the camp and representation of the government and security and only has one representative at the camp.
What adds another layer to this structure is the creation of refugee committees, which are groups of residents who represent the population to partners in specific areas. At Gihembe six committees currently exist including; Executive, Women, Youth, Health, Distribution, Security, Parents and Sports.
With these committee’s in place, the refugees have agency to present their particular needs in a cohesive way, making them more likely to be addressed.
The structure itself seems the best under given circumstances, but dangerously depends on the two main camp representatives from UNHCR and MIDIMAR to report on any major short falls. The clear understaffing present for all partners also hits at the weak point of this structure that depends on the reporting by those working on the ground in the camp.
Understaffing and underfunding, especially at Gihembe means a problem could take months to be fixed instead of weeks as partners are spread thin attempting to allocate the same resources to a rapidly growing refugee population.
“Our Headquarters in Geneva are continuing to appeal for further funds,” UNHCR External Relations Officer Anouck Bronee told us.
As aid organizations across the board struggle with internal cuts, pointing the traditional finger of blame becomes close to impossible at Gihembe.
Leave a Reply