The countries of the Great Lakes Region of Africa are, in addition to their geographical characteristics, bound together by their political interdependence. Since the collapse of the strongmen of the nineties and the genocide in Rwanda, all countries in this region have to various degrees been involved in the deadly conflicts on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Many have military intervened, either directly or through proxies, on each other’s territory and have hosted significant refugee populations. Efforts to address this ongoing cycle of conflict and displacement.
The Rights in Exile programme addresses the consequences of forced migration by promoting the rights of those who have fled across borders from conflict and political repression.
The programme has two components:
- A Legal Aid which provides centralised and country-specific information to refugee law practitioners and advocates.
- A targeted advocacy agenda based on original field-based empirical data which links grassroots realities with global debates.
KYANGWARI REFUGEE SETTLEMENT VISITATION FROM 16TH JUNE- 19TH JUNE 2019
It is within this background note that Watson Owampiire representative of IRHRI was invited by the Protectionist officer –Kyangwari Refugee Settlement to attend a four day rapper tour in the settlement over the rights of refugee children and how based can these children be helped to grow up with the independent minds of success in the life outside settlement.
16th June- arrivals of the invited guests
17th June- Brief meeting conducted by the OPM representative and roundup tour across the camp
18th June – Discussion of the outcomes from the field visit and way forward
19th June- appraisal and setting off of the guests.
In the meeting invited guests were six in number including representative from the OPM, Action African Help, UNHCR representative, and private sector representatives with which IRHRI was among.
Among the discussions, was the roadmap on the rights of women and children and the possible ways to approach this issue in the refugee settlement
Settlement villages were visited including Nyamiganda, Mukuunyu, Nguruwe, Musiisa A&B, Kagooma, Rwenyawawa among others.
Recommendations
- Possible key areas including resource centers for children’s games should be constructed and promoted for children to actively be brought to their talent development
- Children should be feed and natured on nutrition for their health
- Education training centers including coaching and facilitation of the trainees should be highly
Valued in the camp
- OPM and UNHCR should consider construction of semi permanent housings for the families in the settlement since the international community provides funding for these refugees
- The issue of children’s health is paramount since these are the next generation of the possible leaders
- Labor among the children in the settlement was high which is prohibited and needs to be tackled.
- Human rights organizations need to also be involved in the settlements besides the relief ones for the human rights sustainability and documentation
- The issue of extending the operations to the host communities for them to also benefit from the refugee programs. This will include among others human rights activities.
- Creating a human rights platform for the women and children in the settlements and evaluation of its activities.
