{"id":32951,"date":"2017-03-02T12:59:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T12:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/unhcr-to-give-rwandan-refugees-4m-to-go-back-home\/"},"modified":"2017-03-04T11:24:07","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T11:24:07","slug":"unhcr-to-give-rwandan-refugees-4m-to-go-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/unhcr-to-give-rwandan-refugees-4m-to-go-back-home\/","title":{"rendered":"UNHCR to give Rwandan refugees $4m to go back home"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Rwanda could this year receive the largest number of returnees \u2014 refugees who fled the 1994 genocide \u2014 in a UN-funded repatriation programme that offers cash to every adult and child who chooses to return home voluntarily.}<\/p>\n

Supported by a budget of $4 million, the UN has agreed to offer a cash incentive to Rwandan refugees who are currently living in exile around the world, but especially in the DRC, with those opting to return home before the December 2017 deadline will each receive $250 for adults and $150 for children.<\/p>\n

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is targeting 20,000 Rwandan refugees in DR Congo with the cash scheme, in the hope that it will persuade them to return home before the deadline, after which they will no longer be considered refugees by Rwanda.<\/p>\n

The cash programme began in 2016 as a pilot project and has already benefited 403 returning families. In two months \u2014 November and December last year \u2014 the UNHCR disbursed $283,650 to 1,481 individuals \u2014 615 adults and 866 children.<\/p>\n

‘Mass exodus of refugees’<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are targeting 20,000 refugees this year. We started giving out cash in November 2016 to gauge if this was the right direction. We will now continue with the programme until the cessation clause,\u201d said Erika Fitzpatrick, UNHCR Rwanda associate reporting officer. \u201cWe have so far given cash to 13 families and realised that this programme can be helpful in getting as many refugees as possible back home,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The UN expects the monetary incentive to result in a \u201cmass exodus of refugees\u201d currently living in foreign countries.<\/p>\n

The UNHCR approved the Rwanda Cessation Clause in 2011. It was then extended to 2013 and later to December 31, 2017. Rwanda then put in place a repatriation and reintegration programme to encourage refugees to return, and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees says that between 1994 and 2014, over 3.4 million refugees have voluntarily returned home.<\/p>\n

{{Reintegration programme}}<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon their return, we give them livestock, construction material, while others are offered training in various vocational skills,\u201d said Minister in charge of Refugees Seraphine Mukantabana.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturnees are visited on a regular basis by our reintegration staff to ensure that they are smoothly reintegrated into the community, and we also try to help those who are still facing challenges,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Other incentives from the UN for refugees who willingly opt to return home include one year free medical insurance for treatment in government hospitals, free transportation within Rwanda and free mobile phones.<\/p>\n

Saber Azam, the UNHCR representative for Rwandan refugees, said that the government of Rwanda had sufficient funding that to ensure the returnees are provided with permanent settlement in the country.<\/p>\n

According to the UNHCR, returning refugees were previously being provided with household items but this eventually failed since most returnees were tempted to sell the items for cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are optimistic that the cash award option we have adopted now will be a success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Rwandan<\/figure>\n

Source:The East African <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Rwanda could this year receive the largest number of returnees \u2014 refugees who fled the 1994 genocide \u2014 in a UN-funded repatriation programme that offers cash to every adult and child who chooses to return home voluntarily.} Supported by a budget of $4 million, the UN has agreed to offer a cash incentive to Rwandan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[2460],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-32951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-the-east-african"],"bylines":[{"id":2460,"name":"The East African","slug":"the-east-african","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":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2460,"name":"The East African","slug":"the-east-african","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":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32951","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=32951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32951"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=32951"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=32951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}