Gatsinzi, UNHCR official to visit Congolese refugee camp

The Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugee Affairs, Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, and the new UNHCR Country Director, Warasame Neimah, will tomorrow visit Congolese refugees living at Gihembe Refugee Camp in Gicumbi District.According to the minister, the new representative wants to visit all refugees in the country  beginning with the Congolese who have stayed in Gicumbi for over ten years.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Refugees in Kigali City are mostly Congolese nationals (File Photo)

The Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugee Affairs, Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, and the new UNHCR Country Director, Warasame Neimah, will tomorrow visit Congolese refugees living at Gihembe Refugee Camp in Gicumbi District.

According to the minister, the new representative wants to visit all refugees in the country  beginning with the Congolese who have stayed in Gicumbi for over ten years.

"She wants to know all refugees in the country and where they live. So I will be leading her to all camps around the country,” Gatsinzi said yesterday. Neimah replaced Annet R. Nyekan.

The minister highlighted that the new representative was interested in assessing problems faced by refugees and come up with appropriate mechanisms.

"There are problems that affect them like disasters, especially in the Northern Province, poor management of camps and others. We need to see how such problems can be curbed and the UNHCR is a major partner,” he added

Meanwhile, Rwanda and Congo, last year, signed a tripartite agreement in Goma that grants freedom of all refugees in both countries to repatriate voluntarily without force.

Over 50,000 Congolese refugees are said to be in Rwanda living in several camps while others are urban refugees.

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