UNHCR concerned at "forced repatriation" of refugees

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, has expressed "grave concern" over the apparent forced repatriation, since 31 August, of some 1,500 Congolese refugees from Rwanda to North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A statement issued by UNHCR on Thursday said the refugees - who were settled in two camps, Kiziba and Gihembe, in western and central Rwanda - had been forcibly returned in four separate convoys to the Masisi region of North Kivu. The convoys had been jointly organised by the government of Rwanda and the Rwanda-backed rebel group governing much of eastern DRC, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma).

While local authorities had assured UNHCR that the process was entirely voluntary, the refugees claimed they are being intimidated into leaving, Ron Mponda deputy representative of UNHCR in Rwanda told IRIN on Thursday. "They were told that if they don't return voluntarily, force will be used," he said.

Refugees in Gihembe camp, Byumba prefecture, had been warned by the authorities that this was their last chance to return home with assistance, UNHCR reported. Local authorities in Byumba were also reported to have given a deadline of 15 September to return home.

In a letter to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Lubbers said the agency would not be associated with the operation, which appeared to be "neither voluntary not sustainable". Mponda confirmed that UNHCR had not been informed of the exercise, and that there was no legal framework in place - such as a tripartite agreement between the UN, the government of Rwanda and RCD-Goma - to sanction it.

He added that the refugees had been misinformed about the conditions to which they were returning. "They were told that UNHCR would assist them when they reached the DRC, but we are not even there. We have not had access to that region [Masisi] for several years."

Furthermore, there were concerns that the returnees were being taken to camps for displaced people in North Kivu which "negates the purpose of voluntary repatriation", said Mponda.

By Tuesday, scores of refuges in Gihembe had started dismantling their homes in preparation for the journey. Some were sleeping outdoors as they awaited transport to North Kivu, UNHCR reported.

Officials from the Rwandan local government ministry, including the secretary of state Odette Nyiramirimo, were present and heard the accusations of intimidation, Mpondo told IRIN. However, she denied the accusations and agreed that any return should be voluntary.

The two refugee camps in Rwanda accommodate a total of 31,923 refugees between them. Most are ethnic Tutsis - known as the Banyamulenge - who fled Hutu attacks in North Kivu in 1995 and 1996.