Refugees to go to varsity

KIGALI: With no hope of returning to their country soon, Burundians who have spent more than a year living at Rwanda’s largest refugee camp, Mahama, have been offered a chance to continue with education at Rwanda’s higher learning institutions.

Close to 260 Burundi students who fled their country after finishing high school, and others who were at the university at the time, have already started English lessons to cope up with university and tertiary education in Rwanda, said Jean Claude Ciza, president of the association of refugee students at Mahama refugee camp.

“The government of Rwanda, in partnership with the UNHCR, is supporting us to resume our education here in Rwanda. We want to continue with studies,” Ciza said.

“The students have been facilitated to get basic school necessities such as clothes, mattresses, soap, bedding, shoes and scholastic materials among others.”

Burundian refugees fled their country in April last year after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans to run for a third term, which he went on to win despite protests from opposition parties.

“Refugees can face many barriers to accessing higher education, including a lack of information, advice and individual guidance sensitive to their specific needs. We are supporting Burundian refugees and other refugees in Rwanda to access quality education,” said Seraphine Mukantabana, Rwanda Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs. “We are committed to ensuring that all refugee students with a merit are given a chance to access university education,” she said.

Mukantabana said that with the help of UNHCR and donors, they would continue to support the other remaining refugees to access higher education. – Xinhua