By Bajyagahe
 |
| Sasha Chanoff, Rose Mapendo, and musician Joel Madden |
There have been many stories and
incidences whereby the various people wrote articles of how
Kigali government infiltrated and bribed many
humanitarian agencies. It has used various methods such as registering some
non-governmental organizations. Most of those organizations are based in
USA and
UK. The clear objectives of these
dubious organizations are to assist infiltrate bogus ‘Rwandan Refugees’ into
these two countries with the aim to destabilize Hutu refugees living in those
countries. Some major international media houses and websites have been published
different articles highlighting the Kagame’s malicious strategies to hunt and
destabilize intellectual Hutus who are living in diaspora. The Kigali has
dispatched various young people who abroad on a refugee ticket claiming to flee
the Kagame’s dictatorship, but once they get UNHCR protection and full support,
they start hunting the Hutu intellectuals, which they send back to Kigali to
fabricate false genocide accusation leveled against these innocent victims. One
of those good scholars is the Global Research. One of their great publications
is an article entitled “
Psychological Warfare,
Embedded Reporters and the Hunting of Rwandan Refugee:”http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=SNO20080411&articleId=8657
.
The writer starts talking about
the research that helped to uncover the bogus refugees sent by Kigali government just to disturb and tarnish
the name of the genuine Rwandan refugees. This group is a mafia squad charged
with a mission to destabilize and black mail Hutu refugees who oppose to
Kagame’s dictatorship regime.
The writer explains the story of
one of the Rwandan Hutu intellectual Refugees who was harassed by a BBC
journalist by the Mr. Fergal Keane. He has been Kagame’s cohort since the time the
RPF planned the Rwanda
invasion in early 19980s which culminated in the killing of the late President Habyalimana
Juvenal on 6th April, 1994. He talks about the incident of Dr.
Vincent Bajinya who happened to come from the same village as the late Habyalimana.
I was touched by the action that Mr. Fergal bumped into Dr.Bajinya with a
camera on where he started calling him names like a Genocidaire mastermind.
This created a thirst in me to quench. As a doctoral student in History and
politics here in United States, I decided to go back to Africa.
I went back to Kenya a country I
lived in since 1995 after fleeing Rwanda in the month of June probably a year
after RPF took over from Habyalimana. I was 16 when I passed through Virunga
forest after witnessing the brutal death of my elderly parents. I remember very
well the day I went to collect my Identity Card at our district Office of
Kinigi, Ruhengeri Province, I came back home but before I got home I met people
waiting for me at Musanze Shopping Centre. They wanted to warn me not to go
home because the RPF army had come home and killed everyone who was at home.
They killed indiscriminately children, young people, and elderly like my father
who was in his 86 and my mother who was in her 70s. I was the only child
remained at home after Kagame took over Rwanda. My parents were very old
they couldn’t flee with other people. I didn’t want to leave them though they
wanted me to flee together with my elder brothers and their family, I felt a
moral obligation to remain with them, and die with them. But on this very day,
I found them dead as I had gone for my Identity Card.
When my neighbors saw me they
warned me not to proceed. They rather advised me to go and hide myself in the
Virunga forest and wait until the normalcy comes back. I took off to the bamboo
forest where I spend the whole night and day walking under the bushes meeting
human bones scattered all over.
I came to Kenya then later I met a Good Samaritan who took
me to school in the United
States. After reading that article I
remembered the incidences which have been happening for some years now where
the UNHCR in Kenya has been
denying the Rwandan genuine refugees protection instead supporting those ones
recommended by Kigali
government. In 2001, Kofi Annan the then UN Secretary General came to Kenya to clean
up the mess of corruption which had rooted in UNHCR administration. Many Hutu
refugees were denied refugee status on the claim of genocide. Majority of these
refugees who don’t have protection from UNHCR are women and children. They were
denied protection on the ground that they are Hutus. The UNHCR has ignored its
own reports published in 1995 and 2002 that are confirming that RPF was
practicing extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrest of Hutus across the
country.
This move was manifested by the
UNHCR campaigns that it took around the country mobilizing refugees from Great
Lakes Region. This campaign was aimed at discouraging these refugees not to
take the KENYA ALIEN CERTIFICATES being issued by the Kenyan Government after
realizing that there have been many injustices practiced by UNHCR against the
innocent Hutu refugees. When I was in Kenya
carrying out my doctorate research among East-Central Refugees in Kenya,
I saw a tag of war between UNHCR and Kenyan Commission on Refugees Affairs. The
UNHCR pushed by Kigali government was crying
foul that it was outraged by the fact that Kenya has recognized the Rwandan
‘Hutu’ refugees. In the statement posted in a Kenyan local newspaper called
Nation, the UNHCR through its spokesperson Mr. Emmanuel Nyambera that it could
not understand why the Kenyan Government has opted to give asylum to Hutu
refugees instead of forcing them to return to Rwanda. This opened my eyes wider
and it indicated to me that there is a group being oppressed by the body which
is supposed to protect it just because of political reasons.
I took my initiative to look for
where the offices of UNHCR are now because when I left 10 years ago the offices
where somewhere in Hurlingham near yaya. I was told to take a taxi minibus
no.23 usually called ‘Matatu’ by local people. I took the Uhuru Highway then landed into Waiyaki High Way. I
alighted at Church Road
junction. I took church road which is next to the Offices of All Africa
Conference of Churches for those who know the place. I walked for around 200m
then arrived at UNHCR. I found so many refugees from Burundi,
DRC, Rwanda, Southern Sudan,
Ethiopia, and Somalia, but
majority of them were refugees from Great Lakes Region because Thursday is the day
for those people from French Speaking countries. I entered as a New Refugee in
order to learn what is going on inside their. I sat to see how the refugees are
treated in Kenya
compare to the time I was there late 1990s. I started talking in my mother
tongue to the ladies who were sitting next to me. They replied. Usually people
from Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda are
social. We talked and talked then it was around 11am without any sign of
calling anyone from our line. I was feeling already hungry because I had not
had my breakfast. I wanted to behave the same way other refugees around behave
and feel the way they are feeling because even me I passed through this before.
I talked to them smiling asking them if we could go for lunch or soda at the
kiosk inside the compound. They replied surprised worried that they couldn’t
afford a soda bought from that Kiosk because it is double the normal cost. I
offered to buy them. They reluctantly accepted then we went sharing. To my
surprised I found another group speaking Kinyarwanda which is Rwandans mother-tongue,
but this group was sitting in a separate pavilion which prompted me to ask.
Then one of those three ladies we were together gestured to me then she laughed
as she said to me “these are the chosen few by Mapendo.” I couldn’t get it well
then I asked for more information, then the story began. The lady who was
talking to me was nicknamed after her latest boy. Mama Kibebi, meaning the
one who has given birth to a baby. Mama Kibebi started telling me more about the ‘Chosen Few Group
of Mapendo International. To my surprise I found out that Refuge Point is an International
Charitable organization registered in USA Boston.
I came to learn a lot
about the intrigues played in Africa by the
humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR and Refuge Point. They explained to me and
gave me a very long list of bogus refugees who have been leaving Rwanda in
disguise of Banyamurenge (these are Tutsis from Eastern Congo) and report
themselves to UNHCR. The UNHCR sends them
directly to Refuge Point offices which are along Chaka Road in Hurlingham. Then the latter
organizes the process to resettle to the States without taking too long or even
suffering in Nairobi.
I asked them the reasons why they did not go to Refuge Pointfor such kind of
help. They looked at me then laughed at me asking “in this short period you
have completely forgotten who you are.” Meaning that I have forgotten my
Identity, the Identity of being a Hutu, a tribe that Kagame tarnished its image
to make a living out it. Mama Kibebe continued explaining to me how she
attempted to go to Refuge Point for a medical assistance. She was asked first
whether she is a Tutsi or a Hutu. When she was asked such question she wanted
to lie because someone had warned her that if she is not a Tutsi she is not
going to be helped. Actually her friends had advised her to masquerade her
ethnicity and because of her sharp noise say that she is a Tutsi in order to
get medical help through Mapendo International which later changed its name into Refugee Point. This happens because they wanted to distance themselves from the damage that Mapendo one of the Founders of the Mapendo International, A Munyamulenge woman who used Mapendo as a stepiing stone to resettle multitudes of Tutsis to USA, especially in the State of Maine and Texas. She laughed then she said, “Nashakaga kuvuga
ko nd’Umututsi aliko nibuka ko isura atariyo jye,ahubwo njye n’amaraso ya data
na mama (I wanted to lie that I am a Tutsi, as she was laughing, but I
remembered that what makes me not the look but my mother’s and father’s blood,
that is my true identity). I went ahead and said who I truly am. “A Hutu”, I replied.
Then I was referred to Kenyatta
National Hospital,
which is a public hospital. I left laughing inside my heart because I was given
an answer I was expecting all along. When we finished our Sodas we went back to
sit on the benches. We waited to be called. Majority of the refugees I talked
to they did not have legal documents except the Alien Card that the wonderful
Kenya Government gave them as they put it in their own words. “Imana irengera
ibishwi nimisega nt’ihumbya (it is a Kinyarwanda saying literally meaning that
the God who protects sparrows never winks, he is always there with a watching
eye). Among the people I contacted they told me that Kagame sends his men to USA through Refuge
Pointand UNHCR to ensure that they get resettlement as refugees but still on
his mission as investigators and spies for Kagame’s regime. These people go
back to Rwanda using Uganda as their transition where they leave
their UNHCR or USA travel
documents then they take Rwanda
pass to cross over as Rwandans. As I continued to look for more information to
cover my research on the life of the refugees from Great Lakes Region, I was
taken around Nairobi suburbs to be shown the
houses where the refugees from Rwanda
stay on their transit to USA
as Refuge Pointprocess their dossiers. Some of those areas where these ‘Chosen
Few Refuge PointGroup’ stay are Pangani, Umoja, Ngumo, and Eastleigh.
Mama Kibebe continued telling me that these bogus refugees have their ‘password’
they use in order to be identified with Refuge Pointand UNHCR as people who are
on the transit, if you don’t know the password, you are not among this chosen
few Refuge Pointgroup. Your case is rejected instantly.
I continued meeting with refugees
from Rwanda
who have various problems. Some of them have opted to collect scrap metals from
the garbage around the slums of Kangemi, Kawangware, Mathare and so on in order
to earn ends meet for their small kids. Many of these women are widows because
maybe they got separated with their husbands during the times when RPF was
hunting Hutu refugees in DRC, or the time when Tanzania chased away the Hutu
refugees, or others died because of not finding medication since UNHCR had
denied them the legal documents in order to have access to their basic human
rights. This was done as a plan for UNHCR to force them to go back to Rwanda since there were claims that Rwanda bribed
the UNHCR administration in order not to allow any Hutu intellectual gets
access to the UNHCR assistance. This is seen in the statistics of a minimal
number of Hutu refugees who have been given resettlement through Nairobi UNHCR,
many Hutu Refugees in Nairobi have been rejected, and a good number is for
those thought to be educated and more knowledgeable, they are rejected after
their first introduction, even that molecule number of Hutu refugees who might
have been given resettlement to the third country, are those families whom they
think they have not gone to school. While the resettlement process for the
Rwandan genuine refugees takes from 5 years to ten years, from the day that a
refugee application is accepted, for this Rwando-Banyamurenge, through Refuge
Point, it is a different thing. It just takes 1 to 3 months then you are in the
United States.
After my research, I thanked God
who directed me to Africa because I managed to
deeply understand the suffering my people are undergoing. I fully discovered
the ways that some people benefit from the sufferings of their brothers without
taking into consideration that all of us are human beings with the same
ambitions, and feelings. That one should know that the same way you need to
have a chance in life; you should also give me chance without compromising my
rights and judging me based on the prejudices of the world full of evil minded
people who were created to make other people’s lives miserable. This showed me
and convinced me that there is a group about to extinguish, a group that has
endured the world’s insult, oppression, and harassment from all angles of life.
The group that has been branded “Genocidaires” simply to isolate their feelings
and hide them behind the crimes they didn’t commit while the masterminds are
free and liberal to access any world’s opportunities at the expenses of our
anguish. Whatever the case, which ever the time and means. Refuge Point and
UNHCR Nairobi should understand that whever these Hutu refugees get opportunity
to go out of Nairobi;
other people do treat them in more humane way. No discrimination at all. They
are viewed as Rwanda
refugees not like you are a Hutu or Tutsi you deserve this but not that. Please
try and become the agents of reconciliation in Rwanda not a widening gap tool in
disguise.
For so many years western
humanitarian agencies and UN body in particular have played a major role in
disintegrating Rwandan communities. The UNHCR has been a major tool to widen up
the gap between Hutus and Tutsis especially when it comes to the matters of
humanitarian assistance in the countries of East and Central Africa region
where the Kigali
government has a bigger say. When one flees Rwanda
to a neighboring country such as Uganda,
Burundi, Tanzania, and Kenya the UNHCR staff they compete
to know what tribe one comes from. After establishing this then they go through
the process of either accepting you as a qualified refugee or they reject your
case. But when it is established that one is a Hutu from either Rwanda or Eastern DRC
it is enough premise to reject his or her case. When you are a Tutsi refugee or
Munyamurenge refugee (a Tutsi from DRC) the chances are very high to be
accepted by UNHCR and be given a resettlement through Refuge Point. The good
examples are those of some Rwandan refugees who chose to deny their original
tribes and opted to argue their refugee cases as Tutsi or Banyamurenge refugees
and their cases where easily accepted. Those who managed to change their tribal
identity are in many cases ladies because they generally have sharp noses and
it is easy to disguise as Tutsis. Kamurangwa is one of those people who managed
to get resettlement to one of the western countries through this way of
changing identity in 2005 after discovering that the UNHCR and Refuge Pointhave
a deal to only assist refuges from one community and leave other community to
suffer. She strongly believe that if she had argued her case as a Hutu refugee
woman, she couldn’t have succeeded since all members of her family who went for
the interview with UNHCR in 2004 and presented themselves as Hutu refugees
their case was rejected including her 12 and 14 years old children who went for
the interview together with their father Mr.Ambroise. Kamurangwa is one of
those many Hutu refugees harassed and discriminated by UNHCR in Nairobi and Refuge Point.
Actually 90% of all Hutu refugees cases presented to Refuge Point and UNHCR
Nairobi were rejected. Most of these people went for only one or two
interviews. Kamurangwa have been looking for the reunion with her husband and
children through the UNHCR but it has proved futile because according to her
the UNHCR and other Humanitarian agencies in charge of assisting refugees are
biased in their humanitarian activities delivery. Once again many people have
been brutalized or segregated by some humanitarian agencies in the countries
neighboring Rwanda especially
those who are living in Kenya.
As I said in this article here
above, 80% of Hutu refugees living in Kenya do not have UNHCR protection.
Their cases have been rejected in order to make their living in Kenya miserable, which according to UNHCR
perception and mission could have helped it to forcible return the rejected
refugees to go back to Rwanda
dejected. The refugees returned to Rwanda after all these years in exile, they
are channeled to “rehabilitation centres to brainwash them or to Gacaca the
legendary traditional courts tailored to try even those who fled when Kagame
was taking over in 1994 and RPF couldn’t arbitrary arrest them during those
days. The Gacaca courts are designed to siphon all young promising Hutus who
were still kids when Kagame got power in 1994 after shooting down a
presidential plane which was carrying the two Hutu presidents Habyalimana
Juvenal of Rwanda and
Ntaryamira Cyprien of Burundi.
Gacaca legalize the arrest since it involves the terrorized people who claim to
be witnesses. The government sends military patrol to the villages where the
Gacaca courts are going to take place the next day. The military terrorize the
villagers asking them to prove the accused guilt. The older people are accused
of having participated in genocide whereas the youngsters are accused of
propagating Genocide Ideology. The both crimes bear the same capital
punishment. It is hard to prove not guilt in that country. Where the justice
takes place based on your tribal background not on the crime committed. This
makes people look desperate because they know that even if they flee the
country there is no where to go. They cannot go to Uganda
because the people who rule in Rwanda
are the same people who are ruling in Uganda,
the same in Burundi.
the only country which is a bit
nearer they can run to is
Kenya
but the
Kigali
government managed to set up hurdles through UNHCR and Refuge Point where
nepotism has played a major role in giving UN protection mandates or resettling
those who are in eminent danger and health problems. During my stay in
Kenya
I tried to contact Mr. Emmanuel Nyabera and Refuge Pointstaff Coltilda didn’t
succeed. Whatever happened I was encouraged to write this article by a story of
a young girl in High School who wrote in one of the USA Universities online
journals. She started describing her ordeal as a Hutu refugee in DR Congo and
in
Kenya
as well. She did not leave out her experience in the
United States.
Her story entitled: A Tale of
Atrocity, Nightmare and Hope: Once Upon a Time in Rwanda was published by
Dayton University
website
http://international.udayton.edu/events/spotlights/igilibambe.htm.
When I came back to the States I tried to contact the Refuge Point Offices
through email. I wanted to ask them whether the information collected around
Nairobi during my
doctorate research had some facts and whether they were willing to give all the
refugees the equal rights. They replied to one of the emails in these words: “
Thank you for
writing to Refuge Pointand raising your concerns with us. It is unfortunate
that you have the perception of Refuge Pointthat you do. Indeed, our services
are offered in a completely non-discriminating way. It is unfortunate that some
have drawn other conclusions. We cannot respond to the specific charges you
mention as we find no factual basis for them. A few points that we will make
however are:
1. The demand for our services in Nairobi is much greater than
we can supply. We are a small, new NGO trying quickly to build and enhance our
programs. There are around 150,000 urban refugees in Nairobi. It is clear that we cannot help
everybody and must necessarily apply criteria to determine whom we can assist.
The criteria is entirely based on the level of need; there is no ethnic
criteria or standard ever applied by Mapendo.
2. We are funded 100% by donations from private individuals. We receive no
government funding and therefore your taxes do not pay for our programs. That
does not mean, however, that we do not feel accountable to our clients and our
donors. We certainly do.
Again, thank you for your feedback. We will continue to strive to assist the
most at-risk and vulnerable refugees as much as possible.
Best regards,
Refuge Point
I
hope the world is going to understand that many organizations have fallen prey
to Kagame’s tactics of divide and rule. Where they use the genocide and tribal
card to isolate one community and enrich another at the expense of others.
