In Rwanda, UNHCR co-leads the response for refugees with the Government of Rwanda’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR). UNHCR’s responsibility includes ensuring protection of refugees, such as registration, prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and protecting children; finding durable solutions for refugees; and providing multisectoral assistance ranging from shelter, water and sanitation, health and reproductive health, education, access to energy, etc. UNHCR assists refugees living in six refugee camps, three reception/transit centers, and also those living in urban areas.

As Rwanda is one of the smallest countries in Africa and the continent’s most densely populated country, local integration remains challenging. UNHCR thus also works with the international community to help refugees living in Rwanda who lack prospects for returning home to find resettlement in third countries.

UNHCR also supports thousands of Rwandan returnees who are coming home since the 1951 Convention Cessation Clause was invoked in June 2013. With the Government and UN and NGO partners, UNHCR receives and assists returnees to reintegrate in Rwanda and rebuild their lives here.

In late 2017, Rwanda hosted some 172,000 refugees, including nearly 46 per cent from the Democratic Republic of Congo hosted in five camps, and 53 per cent from Burundi hosted in Mahama camp and urban areas.

The rate of people arriving from Burundi has decreased since the outbreak of political violence in 2015 and the influx into Rwanda is about 150 people per week.

Refugees in Rwanda are granted the right to work and the government has a policy of progressively integrating refugees into national systems for health and education.

Primary health care is provided in the camps by humanitarian staff and refugees are sent to local health facilities for secondary and tertiary referrals.

By 2017, more than 19,000 Burundian refugee students had been integrated into the Rwandan national school system.