Speaking foreign accented kinyarwanda pushes society to doubt a section of people and openly labels them foreigners in their own country.
Reagan Shema one of the victims of this undocumented humiliation has come out via TikTok to pour out his frustrating experience.
“Many of us Rwandans are born to refugee parents and we are often considered foreigners in those countries because we don’t look like people there and it’s just obvious, ” Shema says in a video message.
He adds, “the biggest identity crisis is [that] when we return to Rwanda and because we don’t know the language and much of the customs we are looked at and called foreigners in our own homeland.That hits.”
However, Shema’s frustrating experience and TikTok message has drawn a wider debate as mixed reactions.
“Really, no one is calling you a foreigner if you have a Rwandan ID which means you went through the appropriate process of repatriation,” said a responder only identified as Remy.
Another TikToker reacted saying, “parents should play a vital role in educating their children about Rwandan culture regardless of where they are raising them from.”
However he adds, “you find parents who speak fluent kinyarwanda try so hard to speak with their children in broken English, they call this being civilized.”
“Let’s burry the past and stop playing victims and build the future,” says blackbird.
For Vincent Songa, ” it affects us very much because we don’t get involved in equal Opportunities in those countries and in our country of origin.”
“Don’t worry about that. Try your best to own property in both Rwanda and another country, you will get all the love and much more..” says Sakala.
It should be remembered that in 2013, Rwanda and the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) implemented a cessation clause ending refugee status for Rwandans who fled before 1998, declaring Rwanda safe for return after the genocide.
Rwanda maintained it was safe and ready to receive returnees, providing support and documentation.
