MORE than 100 Rwandan refugees living in the turbulent Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have this week returned to their home country.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly with the authorities of the DRC and Rwanda organised the voluntary repatriation of the refugees, coming at a time Rwanda has secured some stability unlike the DRC that is beset by volatility.
Several hundred returnees are still waiting for their return in the weeks to come. This adds to the 6 000 Rwandan refugees that UNHCR repatriated from Goma and Bukavu prior to the suspension of the operation in December and the introduction of new measures to strengthen control and exclude cases of fraud aimed at the authorities.
The repatriation organized by the authorities with the UNHCR applies only to refugees. “This process is separate from the return of ex-combatants,” said a spokesperson. Since 2015, UNHCR and authorities have registered more than 42 000 Rwandan refugees with biometrics in the DRC. A high number of these fled political crisis, including the genocide that the country suffered in the early 1990s.
Source: CAJ News
