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Uganda says begins sending ex-Congo rebels back home
Congolese M23 rebels rest inside an enclosure after surrendering to Uganda's government at Rugwerero village in Kisoro district, 489km (293 miles) west from Uganda capital Kampala, November 8, 2013. PHOTO BY REUTERS/James Akena
By Elias Biryabarema
16/12/2014
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda began sending home over a thousand fighters of a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel group on Tuesday after Kinshasa pressured it to return the refugees so they do not regroup to fight again.
Some 1,430 DRC fighters are believed to have fled into Uganda after Congolese and U.N. forces quashed their rebellion in eastern Congo in 2013. Most live in military-run camps awaiting amnesties promised under a peace deal.
Kinshasa has been pressing Uganda and Rwanda to repatriate the fighters, fearing they could mobilise and start another rebellion in the country's troubled east.
Congo has come under international pressure to speed up implementing the peace deal, which grants amnesties for former rebels who promise not to take part in any future insurrections. It does not apply to those wanted for war crimes.
"The first batch of 120 fighters from those willing to go back home will be flying out today," said Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Ugandan military.
Ankunda said several fighters had refused to return home and escaped from a military encampment in western Uganda to a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camp in the same region.
"We can't force anyone to go back home, so for those who have escaped, they're now the responsibility of the U.N.," he said.
UNHCR spokeswoman Lucy Beck said her agency knew some ex-M23 fighters were headed for the U.N. camp but they would be handed over to a government representative as they are ineligible for refugee status.
“These people will not be considered for refugee status as they are ex-combatants and have been involved in fighting,” she said.
A Congolese delegation arrived in Uganda early this month to discus the rebels' possible repatriation.
U.N. experts have accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops, arms and intelligence during the 2012-13 conflict, but both countries denied any involvement.
In its most recent report released in June, the experts warned that M23 members were escaping from camps in Rwanda and there was evidence the movement was regrouping in Uganda.
(Editing by James Macharia and Tom Heneghan)
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