Democratic Republic of the Congo

Notes: This is a statistics report on repatriation of Rwandans from July 2013 to December 2013.

• 3705 Rwandans refugees have been repatriated, 23 refugees renounced refugees status and have been given Rwandan passports and remain in foreign countries
  
• 73.54% of the repatriated passed through Nkamira TC
  
• 94% came from DRC
  
• 58.6 % are female, while 60.11% are under 18 years old
  
• The Western province received 72% of the repatriated.

Rwanda - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) expects to resettle an estimated 1,500 Congolese refugees to the United States from Rwanda in 2014.

Nyiramahoro Tuyisenge is one of the approximately 600 Congolese refugees who have finished undergoing IOM’s pre-departure health assessment in preparation for their resettlement to the United States.

08-11-2013 Communiqué de presse 13/190

Genève/Kigali/Kinshasa (CICR) – À la suite des derniers affrontements qui se sont produits en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) dans la province du Nord-Kivu entre les Forces armées de la RDC (FARDC) et le groupe armé M23, 76 combattants blessés ayant franchi la frontière ont été admis à l’hôpital de Gisenyi au Rwanda.

Margaret Besheer

KIGALI — Over the past 16 years, Rwanda has demobilized some 3,000 child soldiers. Yet as these efforts continue, the United Nations claims that Kigali has been helping a Congolese rebel group, the M23, recruit children in Rwanda to send to fight in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Les autorités américaines ont annoncé jeudi 3 octobre qu’ils avaient pris des sanctions contre le Rwanda pour des cas de recrutement d’enfants-soldats dans les rangs de la rébellion du Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) dans l’Est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Kigali a toujours démenti le soutien à ces rebelles, dont il est accusé par les Nations unies, Kinshasa et différentes ONG.

Introduction

Evaluation Features

1. This impact evaluation was commissioned jointly by WFP and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and conducted by an independent evaluation team of specialists in evaluation, food security, livelihoods, nutrition and gender, with appropriate experience of Rwandan and refugee context.

2. Serving both accountability and learning purposes, the evaluation was intended to:

IOM has stepped up efforts to support the sustainable reintegration of Rwandan refugees returning from neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

The organization is training some 184 trainers, who will in turn impart their acquired skills to 1,500 selected returnees and vulnerable members of host communities in Rwanda.

LONDON, 26 July 2013 – Rwanda must promptly implement the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to prevent child recruitment and investigate all reports of child recruitment in its territory. It must also cease any support to the M23 armed group, known to recruit children and use them in hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

22 juillet 2013 – En visite au Rwanda, la Directrice exécutive du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM), Ertharin Cousin, a rappelé lundi que les approches permettant de mettre fin à l'insécurité alimentaire devaient s'articuler autour d'initiatives locales et d'un développement sur le long terme.

« En discutant avec les dirigeants de petites exploitations, je me suis rendue compte de l'importance des initiatives de développement locales pour améliorer la qualité de vie », a commenté Mme Cousin, au terme de sa visite de trois jours au Rwanda.

KIGALI -– The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Ertharin Cousin, today concluded a three-day visit to Rwanda, the final stop on her three-nation visit to Africa, focused on sustainable local solutions for hunger and undernutrition.

In Rwanda, Cousin met face-to-face with people who have received WFP support in diverse ways, including refugees who have fled fighting in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who told her that WFP’s monthly food rations are a lifeline without which they would struggle to survive.

KAMPALA/JOHANNESBURG, 12 July 2013 (IRIN) - The future of tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees living in Africa remains uncertain nearly two weeks after the 30 June deadline recommended by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for the discontinuation of their refugee status.

On Sunday, June 30, the cessation clause concerning Rwandan refugees came into effect. This means that Rwandans who fled the country between 1959 and 1998 have lost their refugee status across the world.

This follows a process that began in 2002 where the Rwandan government approached the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) saying that the reasons that caused Rwandans to flee were no longer applied and that Rwanda was ready to receive all refugees.

171 Rwandan refugees who opted for voluntary repatriation were received in Nkamira Transit Centre in Rubavu District this Friday June 28, 2013.

The returnees composed of children; women and men came from various locations of the Eastern DRC where they have spent more than 19 years in exile. They returned two days before the coming into effect of the Cessation Clause set on June 30, 2013.

Ceci est un résumé des déclarations du porte-parole du HCR Adrian Edwards – à qui toute citation peut être attribuée – lors de la conférence de presse du 28 juin 2013 au Palais des Nations à Genève.

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

In October 2009, UNHCR announced a strategy for bringing to proper closure the situation of Rwandan refugees who fled their country before 31 December 1998. The strategy contains four components: voluntary repatriation, local integration, retention of refugee status for people still in need of international protection, and finally the invocation of the so-called cessation clause.

The Government of Rwanda joined the rest of the world to mark the World Refugee Day celebrated on June 20 each year. The ceremonies were held at national level in Kigeme camp in Nyamagabe District in the Southern Province.

High level officials including Minister Mukantabana Seraphine, Rwanda Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs and Richard Muyej Mangeze, Minister of internal security and Decentralization in DRC joined refugees’ community in the celebrations.

By Taylor Toeka Kakala

Tuyisenge*, a former teacher from the Democratic Republic of Congo province of North Kivu, sat on a tree stump watching his fellow refugees go about their lives along the terraces of the hillside Kigeme Refugee Camp in southern Rwanda.

He is one of some 14,000 Congolese refugees living at the camp.

“I decided to flee after my wife and two daughters were raped by the army before my eyes,” he told IPS, his voice choking with sobs.

23 mai 2013 – Lors de l'inauguration d'un centre d'excellence pour la lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes et aux enfants, à Kigali, au Rwanda, Ban Ki-moon a rappelé jeudi le droit de ces derniers d'être en sécurité, en tout temps et en tous lieux, « par temps de guerre ou de paix, à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur de leurs maisons, à l'école, qu'ils soient riches ou pauvres ».

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 relocation of thousands of Congolese refugees from Nkamira Transit Center in Rubavu District in the Western Province to Nyabiheke refugee camp in Gatsibo District in the Eastern Province has begun on Tuesday May 7,2013.

48 families composed of 349 individuals were transferred on the first day and the exercise is continuing at a daily basis. A space to host around 3200 people in Nyabiheke Camp is ready while activities to avail more space are ongoing.

In the beginning of May 2013, about 10000 Congolese refugees were sheltered in Nkamira TC.