The Government of Rwanda called on Rwandan refugees from different countries around the World to repatriate voluntarily or seek official documents to stay in host countries as residents.
Speaking to IGIHE yesterday, the Director of Refugee in MIDIMAR, Jean Claude Rwahama said that though people who have repatriated are few, the government of Rwanda has done all that is necessary to facilitate them during the exercise.
“What we were supposed to do was done. As we have said, our responsibility is to welcome them,” he said.
However, Rwahama said that they are not aware whether those yet to repatriate have sought official documents enabling them to stay in host countries, “none informed us, but it might be possible that they seek them through our embassies in different countries,”
On the other hand, some countries are still reluctant to implement the move, like Uganda which recently announced that they cannot remove refugee status for Rwandan refugees as they still receive others who flee from there.
According to MIDIMAR, cessation closure will affect a total of 16,000 Rwandan refugees from different countries.
Statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) shows that over 3.5 million Rwandans have repatriated to the country since 1994.
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