Rwanda which has issued more than 2,500 identity cards to refugees in the country since last year as a move to enable them move freely and access social services and jobs will start dispensing health insurance coverage some 12,045 refugees living in urban settings, an authoritative source revealed Saturday in Kigali.
Since 2016, In 2016, Rwanda committed to include refugees in its national health insurance scheme and integrate the refugee children in its education system.
Commenting on the move, the spokesperson of the Rwandan Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), Jean Claude Twishime, explained that giving mutual health insurance to refugees aims at supporting them with development projects.
It said that the UNHCR would be contributing Rwf 7,000 ($7 USD) for each refugee to be enrolled in the Community Health Insurance Scheme – Mutuelle de Santé.
So far, the Rwandan government has dispensed some 2,760 cards to mainly Burundian and some Congolese refugees in a move to enable them opening bank accounts and invest in Rwanda.
Latest estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that the country hosts more than 172,000 refugees from Burundi (53 percent) and Democratic Republic of Congo (46 percent).
Burundian refugees are camped in Mahama in southeast Rwanda which is home to nearly 900,000.
It is descibed as the largest out of the five camps in Rwanda.
CU/as/APA