Title: Tripartite agreement for the repatriation of refugees between the DRC and Rwanda
On February 17, 2010, tripartite agreements on the voluntary repatriation of Congolese and Rwandan refugees were signed in Kigali. This Monday, May 10, 2023, Kayisire Marie Solange, Rwandan Minister in charge of Emergency Management, Christophe Lutundula, Congolese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Francophonie of the DRC and Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner for Refugees , signed a statement in Geneva to relaunch the process of facilitating the voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees in Rwanda and Rwandan refugees in the DRC, according to the guiding principles and modalities already subscribed to in the text of the 2010 Tripartite Agreements.
To define the practical modalities for the reactivation of all the commitments and structures contained in the said Agreements, the two parties will hold in Nairobi, within one month, a tripartite technical meeting.
The meeting held in Geneva is a continuation of the provisions of the Tripartite Agreements on the voluntary repatriation of Congolese and Rwandan refugees, signed 13 years ago in Kigali, followed by the related practical arrangements, signed in Goma in July of the same year, by the Rwandan Government, the Congolese Government and the UNHCR.
In a statement at the end of February, during the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, President Félix Tshisekedi had requested an urgent tripartite with the UNHCR, so that the two States could repatriate their respective nationals. According to him, this tripartite must associate the customary notables of the communities concerned on the Congolese side, to definitively settle the problems raised and achieve a true and lasting reconciliation between these communities.
This agreement offers new hope for Congolese refugees in Rwanda and those from Rwanda in the DRC, who will finally be able to return home safely