{{Following the recent decision by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to evict Rwandans living in Tanzania, more than four thousand (4,000) Rwandans expelled from Tanzania are now in transit camps in eastern Rwanda.}}
This figure was confirmed by officials from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs (MIDIMAR) during the site visit by a civil society platform delegation.
The majority of the Rwandans evicted from Tanzania are children, women, aged people and other vulnerable people due to sicknesss as witnessed by the civil society delegation mentioned.
Based on the facts collected from the ground by the delegation of the civil society platform; a notice of 14 days only was given to the survivors of the violence, and all of them were arbitrary deprived of their properties contrary to the provisions of the article 17 paragraph 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a serious human rights violation they faced before eviction without any protection whatsoeveer.
The delegation of the civil society platform that visited the transit refugee camps of Ndego, Rukara, Kiyanzi, Kigarama and Gacundezi and witnessed how the Rwandans evicted were first tortured, brutalized in many ways and some were injured by traditional weopons and guns.
It was noted that some of the maniny consequences as reported by the survivors of he violence include but are not limted to; being separated from their families: there are many cases of women who were separated from thei children and husbands, many men were forced to leave their families, children wwere separated from their parents, etc. and may of them came with nothing in hands to live on;
It was reported with disappointment that before eviction, media and some government officials circulated hate massages and engaged in hate speeches against Rwandans calling them snakes and other dehumanizing names, the exact ways the genocide ideology was propagated in Rwanda beefore the genocide against the tutsi, and further noted that this is dangerous behavior not only for Rwandans but also for Tanzanian People.
It is worth mentioning here that these attitudes and actions of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania are completely contrary to the spirit and commitments of th united epublic of Tanzania with regard to international laws and conventions they personaly ratified, including:
• The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Union on 11 July 1990;
• Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989;
• Convention against Racial Discrimination adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21st December 1965;
• ICGLR Protocol for the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity and all forms of discrimination adopted on 29th November 2006;
• The Universal Declaration of human rights;
The Rwanda Civil Society Platform strongly condemns the various acts of human rights violation being perpetrated by the Government of Tanzania against Rwandans living in Tanzania, as these human rights violations hamper voluntary and peaceful returning of Rwandans, they deprive them of their human dignity and personal properties, and inflict much suffering to the survivors as they included severe tortures,
We hereby request International Bodies and Organizations to which Tanzania is affiliated including the UN, the AU and EAC and other NGOs which protect human rights worldwide to take action to halt this situation as soon as possible, investigate the serious human rights violations committed against Rwandans living in Tanzania, to ensure safe repatriation of Rwandans who are yet to face the worst, and reunite families that are thus separated as well as restore their property rights,
We hereby request that the United Republic of Tanzania be reminded of respecting international laws and conventions it ratified and refrain from committing human rights violations against Rwandans living in Tanzania, or else appropriate measures be taken accordingly against such irresponsible acts;
We request the Government of Rwanda to initiate talks with the Government of Tanzania in order to ensure a safe repatriation of Rwandans living in Tanzania through bilateral cooperation as good neighbors and in the framework of East-African Community cooperation.
We request that in the spirit of EAC integration process, appropriate laws be enacted and stringent measures be taken to ensure that such situation does not occur within and amongst EAC Member States in future, so that EAC development agendas are people-centered and the human rights principle are upheld rigorously,
We hereby request that civil society organizations in Tanzania like East-African Civil society Organizations’ Forum (EACSOF) based in Arusha, the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation chairing the Civil Society Forum at the ICGLR based in Dar-es-Salaam, All Religious Denominations and Faith-Based Organizations and other human rights organizations based in Tanzania to request the Government of Tanzania to halt these human rights violations as soon as possible, and hold it accountable for human rights violation acts already committed,
The Rwanda Civil Society Platform hereby makes a very urgent call for support for more than 4,000 Rwandans who survived human rights violations in Tanzania now in Rwanda.
Any support from well wishers and humanitarian organizations is urgently needed for the survivors in Rukara, Kiyanzi and Gacundezi transit refugee camps in Eastern Rwanda.
{{The Rwanda Civil Society platform
Munyamaliza Edouard, Chairperson.}}
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