The Kinshasa government has said it wants to begin repatriating Congolese refugees currently based in neighbouring Rwanda.
However, the authorities in Kinshasa have cautioned they would want to first verify and certify the nationality of these people.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi clarified that the verification steps would also include the identification of said refugees, thorough examination through mechanisms including the reception committee.
This was revealed during a press conference held on Tuesday also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister for the Interior and Security, Jacquemain Shabani.
“This is a process and an exercise that requires that the DRC side be able to identify and certify these figures, and also certify the nationality of these people through the various mechanisms including the reception committee. This, to date, has not been done,” said Jacquemain Shabani.
‘We note 23,000 people recorded as being Congolese living with refugee status in Rwanda,” he noted.
However, Shabani explained, “It had been made known by the Republic of Rwanda that 83,000 Congolese people are staying on Rwandan soil.”
As part of this process, 532 Rwandan refugees left Congolese soil last Monday from Goma, bound for Rwanda via the Grande Barrière border crossing.
Their repatriation was organized by the UNHCR and the authorities of the AFC/M23 rebel group, which has occupied Goma since the end of January.
As of May, more than 1,700 Rwandan refugees living in the Democratic Republic of Congo had already been repatriated to Rwanda with the support of UNHCR, in collaboration with the AFC/M23.
The debates surrounding the repatriation of Congolese and Rwandan refugees have arisen following the tripartite meeting between the DRC, UNHCR, and Rwanda held a few days ago in Addis Ababa.
