The number of Rwanda refugees who opt for voluntary repatriation has remarkably increased since the coming into effect of the Cessation Clause on June 30, 2013. From 1st, 2013 to 18 July 2013, 313 Rwandan refugees had voluntarily return from various countries.
Among the returnees 302 came from Democratic Republic of Congo while the remaining numbers came namely from South Africa, Zambia, Burundi, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Malawi.
The Ministry of Disaster Management and refugee affairs also expect to receive more returnees in the coming weeks that are undergoing registration process in asylum countries.
In the meantime, the government will issue national identity cards and passports to Rwandans seeking local integration in host countries rather than repatriation in order to allow them to retain their nationality. 100,000 Rwandans former refugees are estimated to live outside the country, mainly in Africa.
Progressive implementation of the Cessation Clause
The implementation of the Cessation Clause is a progressive exercise which requires asylum countries to harmonize the envisioned durable solutions with their local legal dispositions on the protection of former Rwandan refugees. Since the invocation of the cessation clause, four countries in Africa namely Malawi, the Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe have totally abided by the implementation.
Uganda declared to be supportive to the Cessation Clause for Rwanda refugees and pledged to spearhead legal reforms to be able to invoke the Cessation Clause in the near future while the DRC requested three months to conduct registration of all Rwandan refugees living on its large territory.
From the Pretoria Ministerial meeting in April 2013 some states cited various legal, logistical, practical or other considerations putting them yet in a position to apply the cessation clauses by 30 June 2013.
Others have specified that, they are concentrating on taking forward other components of the comprehensive durable solutions such as voluntary repatriation and local integration
Meanwhile, Rwandan has developed a comprehensive plan to repatriate and reintegrate returnees. So far this year, an estimated 3,954 Rwandans have returned home.