Over 1000 Rwandans who fled to Uganda between April and March, alleging persecution, have been given until the end of this month to return home. Most of them hail from the Eastern Province.

Speaking to The New Times Thursday, the Minister of Refugees and Disaster Preparedness, General Marcel Gatsinzi, said that the claimants were denied refugee status by the Ugandan government because they had no ground of claiming persecution in Rwanda.

"Last month, I met the Ugandan officials over the issue,” he said. "We agreed that they should be back home by the end of this month because there is no political persecution in Rwanda. Our country is politically stable, I don’t know why they flee the country”.

"We solved the matter and we are waiting for the Ugandan officials to send them back by the end of this month,” he noted.

Gen. Gatsinzi also retaliated that Rwandan refugees living in exile have until next year to return home once the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, begins applying the cessation clause.

"There is no reason why Rwandans are still living in exile because there are no conditions in the country that force them to live as refugees in other countries,” he said.
He explained that Rwandan refugees who will not wish to be repatriated opt for another status or else be considered illegal migrants.

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