Local officials responsible for refugee affairs are urging for efforts geared towards promoting the self-reliance of refugees.

The call comes as support from UN agencies such as the UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP) continues to drop compared to previous years.

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In 2023, the government of Rwanda was informed by UN agencies that due to budget constraints, refugees in the country will no longer be able to receive some basic services.

As such, the monthly stipends given to the refugees were not only reduced, but the refugees themselves were divided into three categories.

In the first category where the most vulnerable people were placed, each individual receives Rwf 8,000 per month, while those who are less vulnerable receive Rwf 4,000 per month. Their counterparts who were deemed self-reliant receive no monthly stipends.

Rwanda accommodates more than 127,000 refugees, 60 percent of whom are DR Congolese while 39 percent are Burundian.

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Speaking to the media on Tuesday, February 20, Andre Vuganeza, the manager of Mahama Refugee camp where more than 60,000 refugees are hosted, said the new situation has affected refugees, but noted that they have tried to cope by trying to find ways of earning income.

He added that the government is now looking at working together with partners who will fund projects aimed at making the refugees self-reliant, so that there will be more of them in the third category that does not depend on UN agencies for monthly funds.

"Our wish as the government is that the third group expands. For that to happen, there is a need to invest in projects that support them to be self-reliant. That is where we are putting focus,” he said.

Mahama refugee camp currently has some refugees who do trade and agriculture while some gained vocational skills with which they earn money in various parts of the country.

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"We want that every year we get money to put into these projects,” he added.

Jean Bosco Ukwibishatse, the president of the refugees at Mahama camp also talked about the funding situation and how it is not easy, but noted that the refugees’ safety comes first.

"If you can sleep and have peace, it's better than all,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, February 21, a group of 95 Burundian refugees left Rwanda to return to their country.

The refugees, many of whom fled their country in 2015 due to political instability, voluntarily expressed the desire to return.

The group includes 75 individuals from Mahama camp in Kirehe district, and the rest from parts like Kigali.