According to the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management, on Monday, through the Grande Barrier border post in Rubavu District of Western Province, 533 Rwandan refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo repatriated to Rwanda.
This return home responds to the commitment made during a tripartite high-level meeting held in Addis Ababa on July 24 between Rwanda, the DRC, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The statement from the ministry says that the mayor of Rubavu District who received the returnees, confirmed arrangements have been made to ensure their safe and dignified reintegration.
The Nyarushishi Transit Center will be their temporary accommodation where the repatriation process will be continued.
The ministry data shows that more than 3.5 million Rwandan refugees have come back and successfully reintegrated into the country since 1994. In the last five years, Rwanda has welcomed a total of 15,643 returnees in coordination with UNHCR.
UNHCR and its partners plan and provide the necessary means of transport for those who want to return to Rwanda. They also run two transit centers where returnees get temporary shelter, are attended to medically, and given basic assistance before being taken back to their home districts.
The agency, in coordination with the government and other UN partners, is working towards ensuring that the returnees and their communities are provided with long-term support.
