Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KIGALI265
2008-04-10 15:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kigali
Cable title:
RWANDA: REFUGEES BEING RECRUITED BY DRC ARMED
how-toVZCZCXYZ0003 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHLGB #0265/01 1011544 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 101544Z APR 08 FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5233 INFO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0225 RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0285 RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 1099 RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1868 RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0420 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0207 RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1186 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0461 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0291
C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000265
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA: REFUGEES BEING RECRUITED BY DRC ARMED
GROUPS
REF: A. 07 KIGALI 547
B. 07 KIGALI 1019
Classified By: CDA Cheryl J. Sim, reason 1.4 (B/D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000265
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA: REFUGEES BEING RECRUITED BY DRC ARMED
GROUPS
REF: A. 07 KIGALI 547
B. 07 KIGALI 1019
Classified By: CDA Cheryl J. Sim, reason 1.4 (B/D)
1. (C) Summary: On March 11 2008, RefCoord met with staff of
both UNHCR and UNICEF-Rwanda who expressed the conviction
that representatives of armed groups from the DRC traveled to
Rwanda on more than one occasion to recruit adolescent
refugees as fighters. Although refugees refused to make
official accusations of recruitment, refugee women in camps
told protection staff that young men who have left the camps
are dying on the DRC side of the border. In a subsequent
meeting with ICRC representatives, they said they shared the
suspicion that recruitment in the camps was an issue, and
that Rwandan authorities knew young people moved across the
borders for a variety of reasons. Observers in Rwanda say it
would be difficult to determine if this recruitment was
organized with the knowledge or complicity of the Government
of Rwanda. End summary.
2. (C) As previously reported (see reftels),UNHCR protection
officers received consistent reports from refugees,
especially women, that young men are leaving the camp to
participate in the fighting in DRC. According to the
refugees, recruiters come to the camps in the evenings when
all the foreign workers have left. They promise the young
people that if they come to the DRC, the recruiters would see
to it that the families of volunteers are cared for in the
camps. Additionally, some refugees reported that recruiters
tell young men that their families would receive favorable
treatment once they return to the DRC if the men go to fight
now.
3. (C) UNICEF staff, responsible for child protection and
sexual- and gender-based violence sectors reported that they
too had received anecdotal evidence of recruitment. UNICEF
had noted a demonstrable movement of young men from Rwanda
into the DRC. Refugee leaders explained this as young men
going to DRC to seek employment, help in agriculture or to
attend secondary school. Camp workers were suspicious of
such facile explanations. They said that families in the
camps sometimes hold mourning services for young men who
returned to the DRC and died there.
4. (C) The camps had little in the way of alternatives to
offer teenaged males. There was no support to secondary
schools, and very little in the way of vocational education.
Families lived in overcrowded conditions, and the surrounding
communities were not welcoming to refugees who venture out of
the camps. Without compelling reason to remain in the camps,
UNHCR opined that the young men go willingly into DRC hoping
to achieve some promised advantage.
5. (C) Should refugees attempt to cross the border into DRC,
they do so without official travel or identity documents.
Any attempt to leave or enter the country through clandestine
means could result in arrest and imprisonment. UNHCR
protection officers told RefCoord that Rwandan authorities
had not detained any refugees for border violations or lack
of documentation in the preceding 90 days.
6. (C) Comment: None of the international organizations in
Rwanda are willing to publicly say the Government of Rwanda
(GOR) is even indirectly complicit in the recruitment of
refugee fighters. They report that some MONUC officers
Qrefugee fighters. They report that some MONUC officers
maintain that Rwanda is involved in supplying and reinforcing
the fighters. However, when pressed, MONUC can offer no
reliable evidence of GOR involvement.
7. (C) Comment continued: It appears logical that in an
ordered and well-policed society like Rwanda today, the
authorities would be aware of activities of recruiters for
armed groups at refugee camps. However, given the remoteness
of the border regions and the volume of traffic traditionally
recorded at the borders, it is perfectly plausible that
Rwanda could know of, but cannot control, the movement of
small numbers of young men from the camps into the DRC. End
comment.
SIM
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA: REFUGEES BEING RECRUITED BY DRC ARMED
GROUPS
REF: A. 07 KIGALI 547
B. 07 KIGALI 1019
Classified By: CDA Cheryl J. Sim, reason 1.4 (B/D)
1. (C) Summary: On March 11 2008, RefCoord met with staff of
both UNHCR and UNICEF-Rwanda who expressed the conviction
that representatives of armed groups from the DRC traveled to
Rwanda on more than one occasion to recruit adolescent
refugees as fighters. Although refugees refused to make
official accusations of recruitment, refugee women in camps
told protection staff that young men who have left the camps
are dying on the DRC side of the border. In a subsequent
meeting with ICRC representatives, they said they shared the
suspicion that recruitment in the camps was an issue, and
that Rwandan authorities knew young people moved across the
borders for a variety of reasons. Observers in Rwanda say it
would be difficult to determine if this recruitment was
organized with the knowledge or complicity of the Government
of Rwanda. End summary.
2. (C) As previously reported (see reftels),UNHCR protection
officers received consistent reports from refugees,
especially women, that young men are leaving the camp to
participate in the fighting in DRC. According to the
refugees, recruiters come to the camps in the evenings when
all the foreign workers have left. They promise the young
people that if they come to the DRC, the recruiters would see
to it that the families of volunteers are cared for in the
camps. Additionally, some refugees reported that recruiters
tell young men that their families would receive favorable
treatment once they return to the DRC if the men go to fight
now.
3. (C) UNICEF staff, responsible for child protection and
sexual- and gender-based violence sectors reported that they
too had received anecdotal evidence of recruitment. UNICEF
had noted a demonstrable movement of young men from Rwanda
into the DRC. Refugee leaders explained this as young men
going to DRC to seek employment, help in agriculture or to
attend secondary school. Camp workers were suspicious of
such facile explanations. They said that families in the
camps sometimes hold mourning services for young men who
returned to the DRC and died there.
4. (C) The camps had little in the way of alternatives to
offer teenaged males. There was no support to secondary
schools, and very little in the way of vocational education.
Families lived in overcrowded conditions, and the surrounding
communities were not welcoming to refugees who venture out of
the camps. Without compelling reason to remain in the camps,
UNHCR opined that the young men go willingly into DRC hoping
to achieve some promised advantage.
5. (C) Should refugees attempt to cross the border into DRC,
they do so without official travel or identity documents.
Any attempt to leave or enter the country through clandestine
means could result in arrest and imprisonment. UNHCR
protection officers told RefCoord that Rwandan authorities
had not detained any refugees for border violations or lack
of documentation in the preceding 90 days.
6. (C) Comment: None of the international organizations in
Rwanda are willing to publicly say the Government of Rwanda
(GOR) is even indirectly complicit in the recruitment of
refugee fighters. They report that some MONUC officers
Qrefugee fighters. They report that some MONUC officers
maintain that Rwanda is involved in supplying and reinforcing
the fighters. However, when pressed, MONUC can offer no
reliable evidence of GOR involvement.
7. (C) Comment continued: It appears logical that in an
ordered and well-policed society like Rwanda today, the
authorities would be aware of activities of recruiters for
armed groups at refugee camps. However, given the remoteness
of the border regions and the volume of traffic traditionally
recorded at the borders, it is perfectly plausible that
Rwanda could know of, but cannot control, the movement of
small numbers of young men from the camps into the DRC. End
comment.
SIM