A delegation of Burundian senior government officials was in Rwanda on Monday, December 19 on a mission to encourage thousands of Burundian refugees currently in Rwanda to return home, telling them that peace has returned. The Burundians fled to Rwanda in 2015 after political tensions in their country flared high, following an attempted coup to oust former president Pierre Nkurunziza. The coup attempt followed the controversial decision by the now deceased ex-president to run for another term, which some in his country challenged as unconstitutional. The current president, who was elected in office in 2020 embarked on initiatives aimed at healing his nation, including making deliberate efforts to create conditions that allows for the return of nationals in exile. The delegation in Rwanda therefore is here to assure nationals that it is safe to return home and contribute to the reconstruction of their country that was plagued by conflict for decades. Currently, there are some 50,000 Burundian refugees in Rwanda. On the other hand, we have another neighbour pulling all stops to ensure their nationals who have lived in Rwanda for close to three decades, remain in exile. For close to three decades now, Rwanda has paid host to tens of thousands of refugees from the DR Congo, whose appeal the return to normalcy in their country so that they can be repatriated have fallen to deaf ears. Instead the Congolese government is making all efforts to consign them to life in exile, including branding them foreigners, while their relatives who stayed back face an imminent genocide. This is not the first time a nation is doing that to its citizens. Rwandans have suffered the same fate, where a section of its citizens who were in exile were urged to stay there, apparently because the country was full and could not accommodate them. In this case therefore, the Congolese can borrow a leaf from their Burundian counterparts and instead of striving to banish their citizens to a perpetual life of refuge, they should be creating conditions for them to return home.
