Uganda gives Congolese refugees 2 days to return home if they do not shift to camps

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) – Over 9,000 Congolese refugees were given a two-day deadline by Ugandan authorities on Friday to return to the country from which they fled just a few days ago.

This came after the majority of Congolese, mostly children and women, refused to be taken to a nearby refugee camp, preferring to stay in schools and churches where they were housed as they escaped from rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to a senior police official, nearly 13,000 Congolese refugees fled into Uganda on Monday and Tuesday through the Bunagana border crossing in the western Uganda district of Kisoro following intense fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in their villages.

In 2013, the M23 rebel group signed a peace agreement in Kenya’s capital Nairobi with the Congolese government.

Under the agreement, the M23 accepted to be demobilized and to renounce violence, while the Congolese government in turn committed to implementing a demobilization process and granting amnesty to some members of the group who had not committed “serious crimes.”

“We have told them to go to refugee camps, but only 2,350 have agreed so far. The majority are staying in schools and church compounds. We have given them two days to decide whether they want to go to a refugee camp or return to their country,” Kisoro district security officer Amon Tusiime told Anadolu Agency.

Andrew Lovi, a refugee leader, told Anadolu Agency that they do not want to move to the refugee camp because "we want to go back to our country.

"We want to be close to the border and monitor the situation in our country. If the situation improves, we'll return home," he added.

Earlier in the day, Julius Asimwe, secretary in the prime minister's office, told local media that the majority of the refugees are still residing in school buildings, which is causing different problems in the community.

Captain Peter Mugisha, the district resident commissioner, told local media that refugees who do not want to relocate to the camp must return to the DRC.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced in a statement that it is aiding 10,000 refugees in Uganda's southwest Kisoro district after they escaped violent fighting in the DRC.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​