FDU-MN-INKUBIRI: STATEMENT ON RWANDAN REFUGEES IN EASTERN DR CONGO
By Eugene Ndahayo
Chair, FDU-National Movement INKUBIRI
Lyon, France
December 28, 2014
These new figures end a situation in which Rwandan refugees had been leftin total oblivion by the UN refugee agency for decades since 1997 whenRwandan refugee camps in Eastern DRC were destroyed and an estimated 300,000 Hutu refugees slaughtered by a combined force ofRwandan government army and its regional allies. Shockingly, the UNCHRfigures had consistently been reporting Rwandan refugees to be totaling100,000 in all.
Official estimates of Rwandan refugees in the DRC reported by the UNCHRwere 38,783 only in October 2014. Furthermore, only 129,000 people ofconcern from Rwandan origin are expected to be present on the DRC soilby January 2015, of whom only 20,000 would be assisted in the UN refugeeagency's country operations profile. Even more worrying is that the same agency's forecasts for Rwandan refugees are estimated at 109,000 peopleby December 2015.
These disparities raise questions about the concerned UN agency's good will when it comes to assisting Rwandan refugees in DRC, especially afterthe tragic episode of the years 1996-97.
We would like to recall that these refugees are survivors of targeted and deliberate massacres of Hutu citizens committed by Rwandan governmentforces in DRC. It is worth mentioning that the UN Mapping Exercise Reporton the Gross Violations of International Humanitarian Law committed inDRC between 1993 and 2003 reported that some elements « if provenbefore a competent court could be characterized as crimes of genocide ».
Today, we are aware that there are plans to launch fresh military operationsin the East of DRC by January 2, 2015 the consequences of which, onthese refugees, would result into another slaughter of innocent Hutucivilians. In 1996, such plans designed to please the current Rwandangovernment led to the worst crime of all -genocide.
A repeat of such an approach would be both politically and ethicallyunjustifiable and would constitute yet another gross miscarriage of justiceon the part of the International Community, especially in regard to the fact that 19 years after its creation, the International Criminal Tribunal forRwanda is about to close its doors without accomplishing its secondmandate of prosecuting and trying crimes committed by individuals withinthe former rebel group now in control of the central government in Rwanda.
We wish to recall that the planned 1996 Canada-led UN HumanitarianMultinational Force's deployment whose declared mission was to providehumanitarian assistance and secure corridors for voluntary repatriation never saw the light of day, because strategic considerations in favor of aconsolidation of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front government by military means were given priority over any other considerations, in total disregardof the UN primary mission of protecting civilians, preventing conflicts and promoting peace.
It is because of these miscalculations that of the 1,500,000 Hutu refugeespresent in the East of DRC at the time, only a couple of hundreds ofthousands survived from a possible crime of genocide, to finally be ignoredby the UN and its specialized agencies for close to two decades.
In light of these circumstances, we urge the concerned UN authorities, especially its refugee agency, to uphold their respective core values andmissions of providing protection and assistance to vulnerable personsduring or after armed conflicts by, among other things:
(1) abstaining from/ and dissuading any other stakeholder/ from anyresorting to the use of armed violence when its intended or unintended end-situation would be to enforce involuntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees;
(2) engaging representatives of Rwandan refugees themselves for the sakeof putting in place mechanisms of dialogue intended to address theirconcerns ;
(3) facilitating dialogue between the Rwandan refugees themselves and theDRC government in order to resolve urgent issues relating to properidentification, protection, assistance and voluntary repatriation ;
(4) addressing the issues of security and justice resulting from the facts established and recommendations made by the UN Mapping Report,especially taking into account the fact that most Rwandan suspects areprotected by the current Rwandan government ;
(5) providing adequate protection and assistance to those who might notopt for immediate voluntary repatriation through facilitating their settlementand their integration into the national economic spheres, education and health schemes;
We call upon the DRC government to uphold its obligations as contained inall national or international legal instruments relating to protection andassistance to refugees they are party to, by continuing to extend itshospitality and improving its protection and assistance to Rwandanrefugees.
We further urge the DRC government to resist any calls to act againstestablished mechanisms, just because of political expediency to advancecertain vested interests by negative internal or external state or non-stateactors.
Failure to protect and to assist Rwandan refugees in Eastern DRC inJanuary 2015 would amount to denying once again their humanity. Westrongly believe that the United Nations will not and should not fail again,like in 1994 or two years later in 1996.
It is because of these miscalculations that of the 1,500,000 Hutu refugeespresent in the East of DRC at the time, only a couple of hundreds ofthousands survived from a possible crime of genocide, to finally be ignoredby the UN and its specialized agencies for close to two decades.
In light of these circumstances, we urge the concerned UN authorities, especially its refugee agency, to uphold their respective core values andmissions of providing protection and assistance to vulnerable personsduring or after armed conflicts by, among other things:
(1) abstaining from/ and dissuading any other stakeholder/ from anyresorting to the use of armed violence when its intended or unintended end-situation would be to enforce involuntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees;
(2) engaging representatives of Rwandan refugees themselves for the sakeof putting in place mechanisms of dialogue intended to address theirconcerns ;
(3) facilitating dialogue between the Rwandan refugees themselves and theDRC government in order to resolve urgent issues relating to properidentification, protection, assistance and voluntary repatriation ;
(4) addressing the issues of security and justice resulting from the facts established and recommendations made by the UN Mapping Report,especially taking into account the fact that most Rwandan suspects areprotected by the current Rwandan government ;
(5) providing adequate protection and assistance to those who might notopt for immediate voluntary repatriation through facilitating their settlementand their integration into the national economic spheres, education and health schemes;
We call upon the DRC government to uphold its obligations as contained inall national or international legal instruments relating to protection andassistance to refugees they are party to, by continuing to extend itshospitality and improving its protection and assistance to Rwandanrefugees.
We further urge the DRC government to resist any calls to act againstestablished mechanisms, just because of political expediency to advancecertain vested interests by negative internal or external state or non-stateactors.
Failure to protect and to assist Rwandan refugees in Eastern DRC inJanuary 2015 would amount to denying once again their humanity. Westrongly believe that the United Nations will not and should not fail again,like in 1994 or two years later in 1996.
Contacts: +32465551485; inkubiri1@fdunm.com
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"Aho kwanga no guhora dutuka Abakotanyi n'Umutware wabo, dukwiriye kubasabira ngo Imana ibavane mu bikohwa by'Ibinyabubasha (ibyo ku isi n'iby'ikuzimu) byabigaruriye bikabagira abacakara babyo", Mwarimu Rewoporidi MUNYAKAZI.
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