http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/3-Rwandan-refugees-resist-transfer-from-city-hotel/-/688334/2067064/-/8a0p4az/-/index.html
By RISDEL KASASIRA
Posted Sunday, November 10 2013 at 02:00
Kampala- There was chaos at Sky Hotel in
Naguru, Kampala, as police attempted to relocate three Rwandan refugees
from the hotel to another location.
The refugees, including the wife of the extradited
Rwandan Lieutenant, Joel Mutabazi, resisted police attempts to put
them in a vehicle and transfer them, saying they were not safe to stay
in the new proposed place.
But sources say a Burundian military general
identified as Jamari Ndayambaje, who was also staying at the hotel, was
taken by police to a camp in Western Uganda.
Ms Gloria Keitets, Lt Mutabazi’s wife, Pascal
Hakizimana, a 20-year-old Rwandan student who was kidnapped in August
and tortured before police rescued him, and Maj Habib Mudisivu, a
Rwandan army officer, who recently fled the country, resisted police at
the hotel and said they would rather die than be moved from Kampala.
Hakizimana yesterday claimed he knows those who abducted and tortured him three months ago.
Hakizimana yesterday claimed he knows those who abducted and tortured him three months ago.
“I know them. They are here in Kampala,” he said.
Ms Keitetsi, who stays with her two children, said they might be kidnapped if they relocate.
Ms Keitetsi, who stays with her two children, said they might be kidnapped if they relocate.
Her husband, Lt Mutabazi, also a former bodyguard
of Rwandan President Paul Kagame was irregularly arrested and extradited
to Rwanda. Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said Police was
implementing what OPM had told them to do.
“As police, we cannot relocate refugees. It’s the duty of the OPM. We were just implementing what we had been told,” she said.
“As police, we cannot relocate refugees. It’s the duty of the OPM. We were just implementing what we had been told,” she said.
Mr Douglas Asiimwe, a senior Refugee Protection
Officer in OPM, said plans to relocate the refugees came following high
costs incurred by government to keep them.
He says they pay for accommodation and food, which is increasingly becoming too expensive.
He says they pay for accommodation and food, which is increasingly becoming too expensive.
