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Refugees riots in Rwanda put ‘open-door policy’ under scrutiny

Saturday February 24 2018
unhcr

A refugee registration centre in Rwanda. The country has offered to take in 30,000 African immigrants and asylum seekers, but funding remains a challenge. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By EDMUND KAGIRE

Unrests that resulted in the death of at least five Congolese have cast doubt on Rwanda’s ability to take in more refugees, despite its “open-door policy.”

On Thursday evening, while trying to quell the riots, police shot at the refugees wounding more than 20, five of whom succumbed to their injuries.

The riots took place at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Karongi town in Western Province. Refugees from Kiziba camp, which is 15km away, had been camping there protesting a 25 per cent cut in food rations and cash-for-food by World Food Programme (WFP). The Thursday incident took place on the third day of protests.

Police spokesperson Theos Badege said that the refugees threw stones and sharp objects at the officers, and refused to heed to calls to stay calm as a solution was sought. Fifteen of them were arrested for engaging in “illegal demonstrations, taking hostage and inciting violence,” Mr Badege said.

The refugees however said they should be left to return home if UN agencies and the government of Rwanda were unable to ensure their wellbeing.

“We don’t know the number of those killed or injured but they are many. We are hungry. We cannot continue to die of hunger inside the camps. We would rather go home,” said Fiston Munyaburanga, a representative of the refugees.

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In a statement, UNHCR said humanitarian operations in Rwanda remain severely underfunded, forcing the WFP to cut food rations by 10 per cent in November 2017, and by 25 per cent in January this year.

The UN agency said that refugees had indicated their desire to return to their country out of desperation, but the fluid situation in Eastern DRC made the option difficult.

Rwanda hosts at least 173,000 refugees in six camps, including Kiziba where more than 17,000 refugees from DRC live — 77 per cent of them are women and children. The UN agency is now appealing to donors to support humanitarian efforts in the country.

“To date, UNHCR’s 2018 appeal for $98.8 million to support refugees in Rwanda is only is two per cent funded,” the agency said, adding that WFP had warned of potentially larger ration cuts will come into force if monthly requirements of $2.5 million are not met.

In January, Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the WFP Rwanda country director, said the agency needed at least $11 million to sustain refugees in Rwanda up to June.

These challenges have put Rwanda’s “open door policy” for refugees in the spotlight, despite the government insisting that it is willing to accept more.

“That policy is borne out of the history and the life lived by many Rwandans, as well as our own national values. This policy has been applied for many years, to large numbers of migrants, refugees, long-term residents, from various countries in the region and beyond,” the government said.

Rwanda has offered to take in at least 30,000 African immigrants stranded in Libya as well as African asylum seekers in Israel.

But a diplomat told The EastAfrican that Rwanda’s ability to take in more refugees is now under scrutiny.

“It is a good policy that Rwanda is willing to accept more refugees, but at this point you cannot receive more refugees when the ones in the country are not getting the basic needs,” the envoy said.

Human-rights groups have also expressed concerns that there is no guarantee that arriving refugees will be accorded full rights and benefits.

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