{"id":55407,"date":"2025-08-28T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/president-kagame-unhcr-chief-discuss-refugee-protection\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T11:54:19","slug":"president-kagame-unhcr-chief-discuss-refugee-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/president-kagame-unhcr-chief-discuss-refugee-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"President Kagame, UNHCR chief discuss refugee protection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The meeting, held at Urugwiro Village in Kigali, came a day after Grandi also met with Congolese President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa.<\/p>\n<p>In a message posted on X following his talks with President Kagame, Grandi described the exchange as \u201cgood,\u201d noting Rwanda\u2019s inclusive and forward-looking refugee policies and the opportunities presented by the Washington peace initiative signed in June between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSolving issues related to refugees from DRC and Rwanda is one of them. UNHCR is ready to play its facilitating role,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Office of the President, the talks focused on strengthening Rwanda\u2013UNHCR collaboration, including Rwanda\u2019s leading role in prioritising refugee protection, integration, and long-term solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Grandi\u2019s trip to Rwanda and the DRC was announced earlier in the week. On August 25, he wrote that ongoing political initiatives could provide an opportunity to end violence and forced displacement in eastern DRC \u201cif all actors cooperate,\u201d pledging UNHCR\u2019s readiness to contribute.<\/p>\n<p>His visit follows a high-level tripartite ministerial meeting held in Addis Ababa on July 24, where Rwanda, the DRC, and UNHCR adopted a 2025\u20132026 Roadmap for Voluntary Repatriation and Reintegration. <\/p>\n<p>The roadmap, agreed under the framework of the 2010 Tripartite Agreements, sets out concrete steps and timelines to facilitate the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of refugees.<\/p>\n<p>The plan is seen as a cornerstone of post-conflict recovery, building on recent diplomatic milestones, including the Washington Peace Agreement between Rwanda and the DRC in June and the Doha Declaration of Principles signed in July between Kinshasa and the AFC\/M23 rebel group.<\/p>\n<p>Key provisions of the roadmap include expedited repatriation of Rwandan refugees from eastern DRC, improved coordination between Kigali, Kinshasa, and UNHCR, and stronger reintegration measures covering housing, education, healthcare, livelihoods, and civil documentation. Donor and partner support is also highlighted as vital to ensuring long-term recovery.<\/p>\n<p>UNHCR has already begun implementing parts of the plan. On August 25, the agency repatriated 533 Rwandan refugees who had been held hostage by the FDLR militia, handing them over to Rwandan authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Grandi\u2019s ongoing consultations with regional leaders are expected to reinforce both humanitarian and diplomatic tracks, particularly in addressing challenges that continue to hinder voluntary returns and sustainable reintegration.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-93346 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwc.jpg\" alt=\"President Paul Kagame received UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Thursday, August 28, 2025, for talks on Rwanda\u2019s refugee protection policies and regional peace efforts.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-93345 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gzdrfu_bkaijg5e.jpg\" alt=\"The meeting, held at Urugwiro Village in Kigali, came a day after Grandi also met with Congolese President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Paul Kagame on Thursday received Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for talks centred on Rwanda\u2019s refugee protection policies and ongoing peace efforts aimed at stabilising the Great Lakes region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000093347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","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":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","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":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000093347,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gzdrfhqbcaabqwclogo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55407","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\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000093347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55407"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55407"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}