Government has issued an ultimatum to all Rwandan refugees that they might lose their status should they fail to abide by the December 2009 deadline to have returned home. This was confirmed yesterday by Innocent Ngango, who is in charge of refugees’ repatriation in the Ministry of Local Government. He said that the country will have to apply the secession clause forcing Rwandans to lose refugee status. “By applying the secession clause, we urge them to come back and register for national IDs and passports,” said Ngango, who also refuted allegations that the refugees may lose their citizenship. “What they lose is refugee status only,” he precisely added.The development unfolds following the failure of close to 15000 Rwandan refugees in Uganda to beat the July 31 repatriation deadline. Only about 5,000 refugees returned out of the estimated 20,000 scattered in different camps mainly in western Uganda. According to Ngango, the secession clause will not be a unique case for those living in Uganda. Officials in Uganda were recently quoted by media outlets as saying there is no point in spending “money on refugees whose home country was stable and willing to take them back.” Ends
