UNHCR declines to assist Rwandan asylum seekers

UNHCR on Thursday has said it will not provide humanitarian assistance to a group of Rwandan students seeking asylum in Uganda, saying there is no indication of persecution against them in Rwanda. A UNHCR statement from Kampala said the agency had conducted investigations into the case of the Rwandan students, who claim they face imprisonment in Rwanda after protesting against instruction in French, a language they do not know. UNHCR said it had established that all Rwandan university students are expected to be proficient in both English and French, and that the government had provided language-learning classes, but these students had refused to study French. It was also established that the students took part in a demonstration earlier this year against the Rwandan government's policy of compulsory French language in their education programme.