Security officials investigate escape of Congolese refugees

Security officials in Kisoro District are investigating the escape of Congolese refugees from Nyakabande Refugee Transit Centre.
The Congolese are running away from fights between various armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Uganda for protection by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and government.
In Kisoro, they are received at Nyakabande where they are scrutinised before they are transferred to settlements in Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kyegegwa and Hoima districts, where they live as refugees. They stay at the reception centre for at least a week.
The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Kisoro, Mr Peter Mugisha, on Wednesday said reports he has been getting from UNHCR station at Nyakabande indicate that on average, 122 Congolese have been entering Uganda through the border town of Bunagana for the last three months.
Mr Mugisha, however, said many are disappearing before they are relocated to the settlement camps.
“We are worried about the increasing number of Congolese that disappear from Nyakabande Refugee Transit Camp after being registered as refugees.
“Last month, about 500 Congolese disappeared from the camp while 700 Congolese refugees disappeared last week,” Mr Mugisha said.
It’s not clear if they return to DRC, and if so, why they return to the insecure areas they left.
Mr Mugisha wondered how the Congolese beat the surveillance of government and UNHCR personnel to escape.
“The disappearance of these refugees is a big security threat. We are trying to establish where they go and what they do there,” he said.
The district security committee has also recommended that Uganda Police and UPDF conduct day and night patrols on the Uganda-Congo border.
Mr Mugisha further said some of the Congolese taken to different refugee settlements have in the past been arrested in Kisoro Town and at Bunagana Town border with identification of refugees.
Once they have been granted refugee status, refugees are expected to abide by the laws of the host country. Their returning home (voluntary repatriation) is supposed to be managed by UNHCR.
The refugee desk officer for western region, Ms Polyne Abina, said she has no knowledge about the said disappearance.
“I am hearing it from you,” she said on Wednesday.
“Since he (RDC) is a security official, he should be able to know where they go. He knows how they enter Kisoro, he commands all the security, let him find out how and where they go,” Ms Abina added.

Refugee crisis

Uganda is struggling to contain the number of refugees coming into the country since the beginning of the month following resurgence of violence in pockets of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN Refugee Agency- UNHCR, has said. In a press release on Tuesday, the organisation said the country did not have resources to cater for around 7,500 Congolese refugees that had arrived in Uganda.