By Joram Muhoozi Rwanda Today
Posted Friday, May 17 2013 at 18:45
In Summary
- The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is working with the government to establish shelter and boost livelihoods for some returnees expected to be back in the country before the clause comes into effect.
As the UN Cessation Clause comes into effect some Rwf2 billion has been earmarked to support Rwandan refugees who are set to return to their motherland.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is working with the government to establish shelter and boost livelihoods for some returnees expected to be back in the country before the clause comes into effect.
The project, dubbed “Reintegration of Rwandan Returnees and Other Vulnerable Groups”, is funded by the Japanese government and implemented by IOM.
Japan has injected $3 million into the project while IOM is sourcing materials and labour to construct shelters for the nearly 50,000 people expected back before June 30, the ultimatum for the implementation of the clause in Rwanda’s case.
“We began this project in 2010 and have so far supported about 8,000 people over the past three phases,” said Catherine Northing, IOM Chief of Mission, Rwanda. “Now we are increasing operations to 10 districts in the country.
“Most returnees are confronted with limited access to alternative livelihood opportunities and that’s why we initiated the project, to support them to reintegrate themselves into other local communities.”
The project works towards assisting returnees and other vulnerable community members to learn marketable skills and engage in income-generating activities. They receive training and start-up tools.
Provision of housing to the returnees and vulnerable community members and improving public facilities, such as schools and health centres are the programme’s main priorities.
“The IOM working together with the government of Rwanda is not a new initiative because we have worked with them since 2010 but this time we are putting more emphasis due to the Cessation Clause, which is getting closer to implementation,” said Seraphine Mukantabana, Minister for Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.
Fled during the 1994 genocide
Normally, during the transit period returnees would receive repatriation packages of food and non-food items, which could only help them to survive for three months as they tried to establish themselves within the community.
At the end of last month, the ministry received 144 Rwandan returnees from Nakivale Refugee Camp in Uganda.
The majority of the 19 men, 48 women and 77 children were those who fled the country during the 1994 genocide. They said that they opted for voluntary repatriation because they were fed up with hopelessness and poor living conditions in exile and they were informed that Rwanda is safe.
However, when Rwanda Today visited the camp in south-western Uganda earlier, many of the refugees had been reintegrated among residents in the area and many of them showed no interest in being repatriated.
Many of them had left the camp and were living in the surrounding areas, such as Rugaga Sub-County and Isingiro District, where they own huge businesses. Others were involved in farming or were employed as herdsmen while others have intermarried with their hosts.
Surprisingly, many of the refugees still received support from UNHCR Uganda but would sell it off to area residents.
An assessment by IOM shows that more than 70,000 refugees are expected to return home before 2015 as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in a bid to beat the Secession Clause deadline.
UNHCR and the government of Rwanda issued an ultimatum to all Rwandan refugees, who are now set to lose their status should they fail to abide by the June 30 deadline to have returned home.
READ: Rwandans in exile oppose UN move to force them back home
By UNHCR estimates, there were 73,000 Rwandan refugees around the world by last year, with 3.5 million having been repatriated since 1994.