The Office of the United Nations High Commissoner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency mandate is to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee-related problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, and the agency strives to ensure that all individuals can exercise the right to seek asylum and find sanctuary in another state, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

UNHCR Rwanda

The Government of Rwanda ratifiedthe 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as the1967 Protocol. Following the signature of a Memorandum of Understandingbetween the Rwandan Government and UNHCR in August 1993, the BranchOffice opened in Kigali. Due to conflict and civil unrest in theregion, Rwanda has a long tradition of hosting refugees fromneighbouring countries.

The country currently hosts a total of 55,112 refugees, themajority of which hail from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).There are four Camps in Rwanda, two located near the Northern town ofByumba (Nyabiheke and Gihembe), one south of the Western city of Kibuye(Kiziba) and one in the southwest part of the country (Kigeme). Inaddition, there are two Transit Centres (Nyagatare - on the border withSouth Kivu, and Nkamira - bordering Goma), which facilitate theregistration and transfer of new Refugees, as well as RwandanRepatriates returning home after years of living in exile.

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UNHCR Rwanda has 2 main operational objectives:

1. To provide assistance and protection to refugees and asylum seekers residing in Rwanda. UNHCR provides life saving humanitarian assistance to over 55,000 persons, primarily from the DRC and Burundi.
2. To promote the repatriation of Rwandan refugees. Over 3 million Rwandans have returned since the 1994 conflict, 9,000 of them in 2007 alone. Since 2002, when the repatriation process began, over 80,000 people have been repatriated.

Within the sphere of voluntary repatriation, UNHCR implements areturnee monitoring programme to follow up on the reintegration ofRwandan Returnees in their respective communities, to ensure thesustainability of voluntary return, and to prevent conditions which maylead to their flight again.

Refugee Protection

The protection of 32.9 million people worldwide is the core mandateof UNHCR. Using the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention as its major tool,the agency ensures that the basic human rights of vulnerable personsand refugees are upheld.

Since 2001, Rwanda has benefited from a comprehensive legal asylumframework in line with international standards. Rwanda’s recent entryinto the East African Community (EAC) is a promising development andthe draft Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, if implemented, mayprovide durable solutions for refugees from one EAC country residing inanother. In terms of government collaboration, UNHCR works togetherwith the National Council for Refugees - known by the French acronymCNR - to handle Refugee Status Determination (RSD) procedures in atimely and uniform manner.

Fundamentally, UNHCR Rwanda explores three established avenues – or durable solutions– to end the plight of refugees, which include voluntary repatriation,local integration or resettlement in a third country. Regardless of thedurable solution chosen, protection related activities includeregistration, identification, tracing, individual interviews, legalcounseling, group discussions, workshops and training sessions. Specialattention is granted to multi-lateral programmes that have a focus onvulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors, women, elderly peopleand those with disabilities.

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Program Activities

Providing fleeing civilians with emergency help is often the firststep towards their long term protection and integration, and UNHCRcontinuously strives to uphold and improve the basic living standardsof refugees by providing them with shelter, sanitary facilities andaccess to primary school. Based on the availability of funds culturaland athletic activities are also made available to the greatest extentpossible.

Refugees, who have been registered and are based in one of thecountry’s four Camps, are privy to the projects put into action byUNHCR Rwanda and its Implementing Partners (African HumanitarianAction, American Refugee Committee, Save the Children UK, MINALOC,Jesuit Refugee Services, WFP, UNICEF and GTZ), where the focus is onenvironmental, educational, awareness raising (for issues likeHIV/AIDS, sexual and gender based violence, and family planning), andother income generating activities.