Why do Post-Genocide Rwandan refugees refuse to Return 'Home'?

Masako Yosekawa

By Masako Yonekawa (Tsukuba Gakuin University, Japan)

In her latest book, Yonekawa highlights the repeated refusal of post-genocide Rwandan refugees to return ‘home’. This resistance has taken place for a lengthy period and up to today in spite of the fact that genocide ended 25 years ago and the government of Rwanda and the United Nations have assured security in the country. Based on interviews conducted with a number of refugees living in Africa, Europe, and North America, the book explains the high degree of fear and trauma refugees have experienced in the face of the present Rwandan government that was involved in the genocide and other serious crimes both in Rwanda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. With this book, refugee policies and implementation of the United Nations and some host countries in Africa must be questioned. Some exiles have been stripped of their refugee status in early 2018 and host countries may refoul the refugees back to Rwanda, counter to the principle of non-refoulement (“no expulsion of refugees to a high-risk country”), the cornerstone of asylum and of international refugee law.

For more information on the book, click here