Countries, and among them, the most eloquent advocates of democracy and human rights, are paradoxically keen to buy into the politically inconsequential perspective of the cessation of the refugee status for rwandan citizens: recognized refugees and asylum seekers. This is happening at the time when pressure groups such as Human Rights Watch and higly placed personalities in their capacities as long time close collaborators or accomplices of the Kigali regime are exposing in the face of the world the cruelty of the regime of Kagame towards the very citizens of Rwanda. Any rwandan citizen aware of the delicate and precarious socio-political plight of Rwanda- Kagame himself confirms that when Rwanda News Agency, 20 december 2010 quotes him saying." Quand on vit dans une maison en paille, on ne joue pas avec le feu."- is really beaten by the fact that somehow, western countries seem to be openly biaised in favor of Kigali. They may not be intrinsically knowledgable of the rwandan society, but not ignorant of the fact that the regime of Kigali has excelled and broken the record of political man-hunting. As up today, extrajudicial executions are still occuring around the country. How can any rwandan from abroad: refugee or asylum seeker be encouraged to return voluntarily when prosecutions under a broad and ill-defined law are just a common institutionalized game of political manipulation? One has just to have a look at the list of people in variuos positions who went from prominent citizens status to that of personae non gratae ? Only for the period of the 10 first years of the regime: two prime ministers had resigned or forced to step aside; two ministers of interior followed suit, two ministers of foreign affairs, the speaker of the parliament, let alone high ranked military figures and RPF political cadres. According to the UN 1951 Convention relating to the refugee status, certain clearly defined conditions are a sine qua non precondition to be taken into consideration for the cessation of the refugee status to be declared. There must be substantial, effective and durable changes in the circumstances of the country of origin which led to the recognition of the refugee status. Some politically ill-advised people and so called experts of the great lakes region of Africa do not even seem to understand the roots of the rwandan problem. I was baffled by the declaration of the UNHCR spokeswoman, Fatoumata-Lejeune Kaba, in Jeune Afrique publication where she stated:" Les conditions qui ont prévalu à l'époque, c'est-à-dire le génocide de 1994, n'éxistent plus. Aujourd'hui, le Rwanda est capable de protéger sa population:" The genocide of 1994 is not directly, today, the cause of the influx of rwandans fleeing from the regime of Kagame. The absence of any open physical conflict does not mean that people are living in security. People are hunted down to thousands miles from Rwanda, let alone neighbouring countries and else where in Africa. And this happens since the early years of the regime of Kagame with deaths of Sendashonga, Lizinde, Major Cyiza, Jean Léonard Rugambage, Rwisereka and, more recently, Charles Ingabire. Trying politically unorthodox means and ways to force rwandans into returning home will not solve this socio-political equation with multiple and delicate roots. It would just amount to healing the effects, and not the causes of an infection itself.The evil inherent to the rwandan society is that politics is, actually, a deadly art of slyness and hypocrisy. Amnesty International Publications 2010, Index:AFR 47/00/2010 , pages 19&20 says: "In determining whether cessation is justified, a fundamental question is whether the refugee can effectively re-avail themselves of the protection of their country of origin. Protection must be durable, effective, and available and goes beyond mere physical security or safety ". Here, any one socio-politically mature will reply by the negative as far as Rwanda is concerned. And no need to elaborate on what seems obvious for those who still have some political conscience and open mind. An integral change within the rwandan society is proving to be a must. Otherwise, Rwandans, with time, will find themselves in an infernal cycle of conflicts because no regime has ever tried to be pragmatic enough to tackle the issue with an objective, constructive and progressive approach.
Mayele Deogratias KAREGEYA
