The Rwandan government has closed down one of the camps hosting Congolese refugees in Gihembe (North) following the full evacuation of all its occupants to another site near the border with Tanzania, an official source confirmed Monday.
The closed camp has been home to over 12,000 refugees for the past 24 years.
The motive for their relocation is to settle refugees in a better place given that Gihembe camp is located in a high-risk area and is affected by environmental hazards caused by erosion and ravaging ravines, with aging infrastructures, a government statement said.
Refugees who do not wish to be relocated to Mahama have been given the option to register as urban refugees.
Depending on their decision, relocated refugees are entitled to the same rights and package of assistance allocated to any other camp or urban refugees in Rwanda according to their vulnerability classification, it said.
Rwanda hosts about 127,000 refugees mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the latest figures by the UN refugees agency.
CU/as/APA