EngRegional
Human Rights Watch is against Rwanda’s social cohesion
Participants during Rwanda Day event in Brussels, Belgium in 2017.
In its
long lasting attacks against Rwanda’s leadership, Human Rights Watch’s recent
report went as far as alleging that the Rwanda Community Abroad (RCA) is there
to intimidate people who do not support the country’s ruling party, the Rwandese
Patriotic Front (RPF).
“The
Rwandan government’s outreach goes beyond opportunities to reconnect and
involves threats, surveillance, and harassment, as the government seeks to
pressure Rwandans who do not support the RPF, including refugees and asylum
seekers who have sought international protection from the Rwandan government
itself.
“Some refugees, especially in Europe and the
US, cited events organized by the RCA, such as ‘Rwanda Day,’ as examples of the
diaspora community’s attempts to mobilize and intimidate people, as well as an
occasion to assess who does or does not support the ruling party,” reads a part
of HRW’s report.
Engaging
the diaspora and offering its members opportunities to meet and reconnect with
their home country is a noble cause.
But
HRW wants to tarnish every single good action of the Rwandan government and
portray it as cruel. The Government of Rwanda is committed to mobilization of
the diaspora and integrating them into the country’s development agenda.
Rwanda Day, which HRW claimed to be example of
occasions to intimidate the RPF’s opponents abroad, is a gathering where the
Rwandan diaspora works out novel ways aimed at shaping the country’s future.
Discussions held during the event focus on Rwanda’s development goals, business
environment and opportunities available for the country’s progress.
Rwanda Day is the country’s biggest event held outside its
borders. It is one of the major factors that have kept Rwandans living abroad
connected to the country and brought investors from various sectors. Since
its introduction, in 2010, in Brussels, Belgium, Rwanda Day, has been held in
numerous cities including Chicago, Paris, Boston, London, Toronto, Atlanta,
Dallas, Amsterdam, San Francisco as well as Ghent and Bonn.
At least 30,000 people including Rwandans
living abroad, friends of Rwanda, the President and other senior leaders from
the public and private sectors have attend the events. Rwanda Day is one of
many events and gatherings organized by RCA, to make Rwandans living abroad
participate in bringing innovation, and the best practices in different areas
of the country’s public and private sectors.
Every
Rwanda Day event focuses on a specific theme aligned to Rwanda’s socio-economic
and political aspirations. The Rwanda Day event that took place in October
2019, in Bonn, was held under the theme “Rwanda25: Owning our Future”.
Under
the Theme, three key topics were discussed namely; Ndi Umunyarwanda and Our
Identity Journey, Rwanda Works! The Land of a million possibilities and
opportunities, and Positioning Rwanda in today's globalised world. Participants
proposed solutions to current and future challenges.
Other events that bring together Rwanda's
Diaspora include the commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and
celebration of Umuganura festival. These gatherings aim, firstly, at
strengthening social cohesion of Rwandans living abroad, while providing space
for them to participate in different development programs through sharing their
ideas.
On the other hand, HRW would not let it go
without saying something bad on any approach by the Rwandan government. To tarnish
the events prepared by RCA, HRW cited genocide fugitives, deniers and
criminals, who are roaming in the streets of Western capitals, escaping justice
for the crimes they committed in Rwanda.
HRW
willfully ignores this fact so it can serve its anti-Rwanda agenda.
HRW is using the ‘divide and rule’ approach by trying to create a narrative where the unity of Rwandans is a bad thing.
