I have learnt from Amsterdam that during Rwanda Day; some refugees and former refugees from Rwanda living in Norway attended the event. Rwanda Day took place on saturday 3rd October 2015, in the Netherlands in the city of Amsterdam.
Even though no one can for sure confirm how these people arrived in Norway, before being granted citizenship, most of them were received by the Norwegian immigration board as refugees and there is some, among them who are still taken as refugees. Thus, this was with the due respect to the feelings of others, so that no one would be irritated of being called a refugee that he/she is not! As President Kagame mentioned at Rwanda Day: “Rwandan refugees and asylum seekers are thieves and killers who claim themselves to be politicians.”
Though we could not follow closely what they said when given speeches at Rwanda Day, many of standing Rwandan refugees living in Norway and considering that Norway is a democratic country; they were wondering whether these fellow Rwandans attended Rwanda Day to urge President Kagame to respect human rights and open the civil society and the political space in Rwanda with the due respect to democracy participation as enshrined in the Rwandan constitution!
However, this was not the case! As rather than mentioning opening democratic space; one of the things mentioned by President Kagame “hypothetically speaking” was how he is ready to forgive and welcome those willing to return home, pointing to those who were protesting against his visit just outside the conference hall. The big question one would ask herself/himself is: why forgiveness would be first given to those demonstrating rather than first welcoming those who were inside, and who can not even dream stepping in Rwanda: “Aren’t they who are thieves and killers that President Kagame was talking about?”.
Coming back to President Kagame’s speech, he said that: “due to a big number of asylum seekers and refugees coming to Europe from Africa; European countries are about to review cases of those who applied for refugee status or protection as many of them lied”! One would wonder if those who will review these cases would consider deporting someone who survived the 96/97 killings in RDC and those who are still wanted by RPF, and left behind those who are always visiting Rwanda and attending Rwanda Days or abusing the convention on the right of refugees in the countries hosting them?
Aho Perezida Kagame ntiyarucira mukase rugatwara Asteriya (Nyina)?
It was a standing Rwandan refugee living in Norway: “neither a thief nor a killer”.
