Rwandan Refugees in Uganda: Livelihood, Security and Rights

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Rwandan Refugees in Uganda: Livelihood, Security and Rights

Uwineza Mimi Harriet¹, Assoc. Prof Asiimwe Godfrey², Dr. Karungicharlotte Mafumbo³

¹Phd Student, Department of Religion and Peace Studies, Makerere University, Uganda
^2,3College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda

Abstract: – Rwanda has experienced a protracted conflict since 1959 due to a violent political crisis that originates from pre-colonial social inequalities, which were formalized by Germans and Belgian colonizers into estranged ethnic identities. The first exodus of mostly Batutsi refugees fled into the countries of the Great Lakes Region of East Africa in the late 1959. These refugees went mainly into Burundi, Tanzania, Zaire (current Democratic Republic of Congo) and Uganda. Those who entered Uganda were allocated refugee settlements, Nakivale being one of the biggest and oldest area where they settled. The cultural similarities between Batutsi and Bahima of Ankore region led to an easy integration and their fate was tied to that of Banyankore, whose Uganda National Resistance rebel movement recruited frustrated refugees and together, they took over power in 1986.
Becoming part of the new leadership in Uganda, some prominent Rwandan refugees started organizing their kin in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel movement that attacked in October 1990 and took over Rwanda in 1994, after ending the genocide. As mostly Batutsi refugees repatriated; majority Bahutu refugees fled Rwanda. This research focuses on urban and settlement Rwandan refugees, divided into the old case load that fled between 1959 up to the major repatriation of 1994; while the new caseload is the one that starts with the end of the genocide of 1994 up to 2018. Through Thematic analysis, our research found out that denial of naturalization, kidnappings, murders, loss of dignity, forced repatriation; porous borders and refugee manipulation for political capital are some of the threats to the security, rights and livelihood of Rwandan refugees. The implementation of all durable solutions to Rwandan refugees, genuine implementations of Uganda’s refugee open policy and sustainability framework, in addition to open political space led by the rule of law in the home country would solve the persistent refugee phenomenon of Rwandans and pave way to sustainable peace in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa.

Frequent words: Refugee, Rights, Livelihood, Security, Peace.

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