{"id":2000109714,"date":"2026-04-24T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000109714"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:27:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:27:05","slug":"rwanda-records-over-8000-returnees-from-fdlr-captivity-over-16-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-records-over-8000-returnees-from-fdlr-captivity-over-16-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda records over 8,000 returnees from FDLR captivity over 16 months"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The ministry further indicates that between 1994 and 2025, a total of 3,503,173 Rwandans had already returned from various countries, mainly those neighbouring Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025 alone, Rwanda received 6,043 returnees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since January 2026, an additional 2,153 Rwandans had returned before the latest group of returnees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter comprises 317 Rwandans including 15 men, 76 women, and 226 children who returned home on April 24, 2026. They were received and transported to Kijote Transit Camp in Nyabihu District for temporary support and processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The returnees had been staying at a temporary camp in Goma after leaving different areas in eastern DRC, where they say they had been held captive by FDLR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vice Mayor of Rubavu District in charge of economic development, D\u00e9ogratias Nzabonimpa, told IGIHE that the returnees represent a valuable addition of human resources to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe country has gained back the people it had lost. Their continued return weakens the enemy that had held them captive, as these are productive citizens. We also continue working with them to encourage those still in the forests to return home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also urged the returnees to remain committed to Rwanda and to encourage others still abroad or in hiding to come back and contribute to national development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He assured them of government support to help them reintegrate into normal life, including basic assistance. Returnees aged 18 and above will receive $188, while those below 18 will receive $113, in addition to basic food support valued at 45,000 Rwandan francs per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rwanda received 6,043 returnees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Figures from the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) show that from January 2025 to April 24, 2026, more than 8,000 Rwandans have returned home after escaping captivity under the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a terrorist group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000109715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000109714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000109715,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Rwanda received 6,043 returnees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2025.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/abatashye_biganjemo_abagore_n_abana-2-d4c42.jpg","width":1000,"height":667}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000109714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000109716,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109714\/revisions\/2000109716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000109715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000109714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000109714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000109714"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000109714"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000109714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}