Monday, January 27, 2003
Rwandan Refugees Overwhelm Uganda
By DAVID KAIZA
THE EASTAFRICAN
THE INFLUX into Uganda of Rwandan refugees expelled from Tanzania continues unabated, breaking down the screening capacity at Uganda's border posts.
Refugee rights' lawyers have called on the governments of Uganda and Tanzania to intervene to avert conflict between the refugees and locals who are increasingly competing for land.
Tanzania expelled Rwandan refugees who had been living in the country since the 1994 genocide, saying that their status had expired. Two years ago, Tanzania expelled Ugandan refugees in spite of the fact that they had been in the country for three decades.
The expelled Rwandan refugees chose to go to Uganda. Some are suspected to have participated in the 1994 genocide, while others are said to be economic migrants � ineligible for refugee status under United Nations High Commission for Refugees' rules. But the refugee camps in western Uganda are now said to be overwhelmed. Uganda closed the status-determination post at Bugango in Mbarara district, forcing the refugees to use the Mutukula post.
Emmanuel Bagenda of the Refugee Law Project (RLP) warns that: "There is not enough land for nationals and there are refugees already staying there and this adds on to the pressure. This is already causing anti-refugee sentiments in the area." According to the RLP, Tanzania and Uganda have both broken international laws regarding refugee treatment.
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