Rwanda's first refugees: Tutsi exile and international response 1959–64

Abstract

By the time Rwanda gained independence from Belgium in 1962, 200,000 Rwandan Tutsi had left to seek exile in neighbouring states. Drawing on British archives, this article traces international responses to this refugee crisis in Uganda, arguing that the political subtleties of this displacement are often overlooked.

British officials' anxious responses to the Tutsi exodus in 1959 were dominated above all by concern for Ugandan decolonisation. Yet after independence in 1962, the Rwandans were quickly re-imagined by Ugandan actors who had previously supported their right to remain in the territory as a threat to Ugandan national citizenship. This political exclusion of the Tutsi elite prompted increasing refugee militarisation, yet the resulting inyenzi raids only provided further justification for the international community to pursue a humanitarian rather than a political course in responding to the Rwandan crisis.

The article concludes that recognising the complexities of this early refugee movement and international responses to the crisis is important. Such study allows a more critical analysis of prevalent narratives around histories of exile and return in Rwanda, and underlines the role that international refugee protection policies may play in creating protracted refugee crises.

Keywords:

• Rwanda
• refugee
• decolonisation
• repatriation
• resettlement
• humanitarianism

Notes

1. Jeremy Thorpe, House of Commons Debate (henceforth HC Deb.), February 10, 1964, vol. 689 cc.15–17.

2. Refugees' agency (or enforced lack of agency) continues to be an issue attracting considerable controversy among both scholars and humanitarian practitioners. See e.g. Verdirame and Harrell-Bond, Rights in Exile.

3. e.g. Pottier, Re-imagining Rwanda.

4. e.g. Eltringham “Debating the Rwandan Genocide”; Van der Meeren, R. “Three Decades in Exile.”

5. Fieldwork, Rwanda (August–September 2008).

6. Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 3

7. Eltringham “Debating the Rwandan Genocide,” 78–80; Confidential telegram to UK mission in New York, “Regarding Return from Kigezi District,” East Africa Forces (EAF) 100/6/1; Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 172.

8. Though there is no definite proof, it is possible that the Colonial Office fears were also exacerbated by the parallels that could be drawn between the arrival of refugee Tutsi monarchists and the difficulty of balancing the Kabaka of Buganda's demands for power against those of other Ugandan political parties, which by 1960 had coalesced around Milton Obote's Ugandan People's Congress (UPC). Otunnu suggests this contributed to Obote's later anxieties regarding the Rwandan refugee population's impact on Ugandan politics in 1964 (Otunnu, “Rwandan Refugees,” 10).

9. Uganda Protectorate, Proceedings of the Legislative Council, The Alien (Batutsi Immigrants) Rules, 1959. Copy in Colonial Office (CO) 822/2494 Public Records Office (PRO).

10. Telegram from Uganda (Acting Governor) to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, “Ruanda Refugees,” January 22, 1960, EAF 100/1/015/7 CO 822/2494/7 (PRO).

11. Confidential memo from Fraser in Mbarara to Colonial Office, “Report on the Removal of the Batutsi,” December 31, 1959, CO 822/2492 (PRO).

12. Confidential memo from Fraser in Mbarara to Colonial Office, “Report on the Removal of the Batutsi,” December 31, 1959, CO 822/2492 (PRO).

13. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, UN General Assembly Resolution 429, 5th Session, UN Doc. A/Res/429 (1950).

14. See e.g. Zieck, UNHCR and Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees; Long, The Point of No Return (forthcoming).

15. Confidential memo from H. Fraser in Mbarara to Colonial Office, “Report on the Removal of the Batutsi,” December 31, 1959, CO 822/2492 (PRO).

16. “Question of Refugees,” UN General Assembly (GA) Res. 8(I), UN Doc. A/Res/8(I) (1946): para. Cii.

17. “Ruanda – Urundi Refugees in Rwanda: Minutes of a Meeting,” undated. EAF 100/1/015/8 CO 822/2494/8 (PRO). This comment is particularly interesting given later post-Cold War debates about the international community's instinctive repatriation bias. (On this see Warner, “Voluntary Repatriation and the Meaning of Return to Home”; Malkki, “Refugees and Exile.”)

18. Telegram from Uganda (Acting Governor) to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, “Ruanda Refugees,” January 22, 1960, EAF 100/1/015/7 CO 822/2494/7 (PRO).

19. “Ruanda–Urundi Refugees in Rwanda: Minutes of a Meeting,” undated, EAF 100/1/015/8 CO 822/2494/8 (PRO).

20. Confidential memo from Fraser in Mbarara to Colonial Office, “Report on the Removal of the Batutsi,” December 31, 1959, CO 822/2492 (PRO).

21. G. Ibingira, Ugandan Argus, January 1, 1960. Clipping enclosed in EAF 100/1/015/2 CO 822/2494/2 (PRO).

22. M. Obote, in Proceedings of the Ugandan Legislative Council, 166.

23. See e.g. Pottier, Re-imagining Rwanda, 23; Otunnu, “Rwandan Refugees,” 10–12.

24. M. Obote, in Proceedings of the Ugandan Legislative Council, 166.

25. J.K. Babiika, in Proceedings of the Ugandan Legislative Council, 167.

26. Letter from John K. Kale to Sir Frederick Crawford, Governor of Uganda Protectorate, January 5, 1960, EAF 100/1/015/4 CO 822/2494/4 (PRO).

27. C.B. Katiti, in Proceedings of the Ugandan Legislative Council, 168.

28. C. Hartwell, in Proceedings of the Ugandan Legislative Council, 191.

29. Memo from the British Consulate-General in Leopoldville, Belgian Congo to the Governor of Uganda, December 12, 1959, EAF 100/1/015/3 CO 822/2494/3 (PRO).

30. See e.g. Gondola, The History of the Congo; Weissman, American Foreign Policy in the Congo.

31. See e.g. Gondola, The History of the Congo; Weissman, American Foreign Policy in the Congo.

32. See e.g. Gondola, The History of the Congo; Weissman, American Foreign Policy in the Congo.

33. UNHCR High Commissioner to UN GA, Report on the Situation of Refugees from Rwanda, UN Doc. A/A.C.96/190, 13 February 13, 1963.

34. See e.g. Holborn, Refugees: A Problem of Our Time, 1084; Cuenod “The Problem of Rwandese and Sudanese Refugees.”

35. Report of the Asst. District Commissioner Ankole, on visit to Ruanda, December 31, 1959, EAF 100/1/015/6 CO 822/2494/6 (PRO).

36. Telegram from Uganda (Acting Governor) to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, “Ruanda Refugees,” January 22, 1960, EAF 100/1/015/7 CO 822/2494/7 (PRO).

37. Secret letter from Webber at Govt House, Entebbe, March 1960 – s.5622, EAF 100/1/015/10 CO 822/2494/10 (PRO).

38. Byumba, Northern Rwanda.

39. Gisenyi, Western Rwanda.

40. “Report on a Visit paid to Ruanda-Urundi and the Kivu province of the Congo between 5th and 10th of April, 1960,” EAF 100/1/015/11 CO 822/2494/11 (PRO).

41. Eltringham, “Debating the Rwandan Genocide,” 80; Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 223.

42. Mr Maudling, “Refugees from Ruanda-Urundi,” HC Deb., March 22, 1962, vol. 656 cc.63–4W.

43. Memo from Usumburu to the Foreign Office, “Prospects for Reintegration,” November 11, 1961, FO 1821/24 (PRO).

44. “Report by British Embassy Leopoldville,” November 23, 1961, FO 1821/28 (PRO).

45. “Report on a Visit paid to Ruanda-Urundi and the Kivu province of the Congo between 5th and 10th of April,” 1960, EAF 100/1/015/11, CO 822/2494/11 (PRO).

46. “Report on a Visit paid to Ruanda-Urundi and the Kivu province of the Congo between 5th and 10th of April,” 1960, EAF 100/1/015/11, CO 822/2494/11 (PRO).

47. See e.g. Lischer, Dangerous Sanctuaries.”

48. Cuenod, “The Problem of Rwandese and Sudanese Refugees,” 46.

49. Cuenod, “The Problem of Rwandese and Sudanese Refugees,” 50.

50. Cuenod, “The Problem of Rwandese and Sudanese Refugees,”, 45. A substantial Sudanese refugee population had arrived in Uganda following the outbreak of civil war on the eve of Sudanese independence in 1955, consisting largely of soldiers who had mutinied and Southern students. By 1966, around 40,000 Sudanese were estimated to be hosted in Uganda, some of whom were involved in the continuing political and military conflict in Sudan.

51. Otunnu, “Rwandan Refugees,” 7.

52. Otunnu, “Rwandan Refugees,” 7, 11–13.

53. The Kinyarwanda “inyenzi” translates as “cockroaches”, and was a term chosen by the Tutsi guerrilla groups themselves in order to describe their cross-border incursions. In the 1990s, “inyenzi” was used in extremist Hutu propaganda designed to build up support for the Tutsis’ political exclusion through genocide.

54. Fieldwork, Rwanda, August–September 2008.

55. Exceptions include Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 198–216; Otunnu, “Rwandan Refugees”; Reed, “Exile, Reform and the Rise of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.”

56. Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 219; UNHCR, “The State of the World's Refugees: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Protection,” 2000, 48–9.

57. “Ruanda-Urundi Refugees in East Africa – Special Branch Report,” December 1, 1961. EAF 100/1/015 CO 822/2494 (PRO).

58. “Ruanda-Urundi Refugees in East Africa – Special Branch Report,” December 1, 1961. EAF 100/1/015 CO 822/2494 (PRO).

59. Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 86. Rwandan and Burundian delegations only finally refused to consider independence as a politically unified territory in April 1962, three months before the date set for the transfer of power from the Belgians. It is also worth noting that in May 1972 Hutu rebels in Burundi declared the secession of the short-lived Republic of Martyazo from the state of Burundi.

60. See Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, for the most comprehensive account, 219–23.

61. Lord Colyton and the Earl of Listowel, Security in Ruanda Urundi, House of Lords (henceforth HL) Deb., June 28, 1962, vol. 241, cc.1009–112.

62. The Earl of Home, Security in Ruanda Urundi, HL Deb., June 28, 1962, vol. 241, cc.1009–112.

63. B. Russell, “L'Extermination des Tutsi,” Le Monde, February 6, 1964.

64. “Rwanda Policy of Genocide Alleged,” The Times, Nairobi, February 3, 1964, 10.

65. Mr Thomas, HC Deb., February 10, 1964, vol. 689 cc.15–17.

66. “Rwanda Massacres Exaggerated,” The Times (New York), March 5, 1964, 10.

67. “Thousands Killed in Tribal Massacre,” The Observer (Butare, Rwanda), January 25, 1964, 3; “The Lost Tribe,” The Observer, February 9, 1964, 10.

68. UN troops withdrew from the Congo in 1964. In fact, during 1964, the violence of the Simba rebellion and the threat to white expatriates would cause Belgium and the United States to once again intervene in the Congo. These operations culminated in the Stanleyville evacuations in November 1964.

69. See Bakewell, “Keeping Them in Their Place.”

70. “Genocide Charge in Rwanda: UN Plans to Assist Refugees,” The Times (Geneva), January 29, 1964

71. P. Seale, P. “Inside Rwanda: Solving the Mystery of the Massacre of Giants,” The Observer (Kigali), February 22, 1964; A. Sampson, “A Proud People Facing Death,” The Observer (Kampala), February 16, 1964, 11.

72. “The Massacre of the Watutsi,” The Guardian, March 6, 1964, 12.

73. G. Taylor, G. “Watutsi Still Feared in Rwanda: Settlement or Lasting Menace?,” The Guardian, February 12, 1964, 11.

74. G. Taylor, G. “Watutsi Still Feared in Rwanda: Settlement or Lasting Menace?,” The Guardian, February 12, 1964, 11.

75. United Nations, “Question of the future of Ruanda-Urundi: Report of the United Nations Commission for Ruanda-Urundi established under General Assembly Resolution 1743 (XVI),” May 30, 1962, UN Doc. A/5126.

76. Confidential telegram, Bujumbura Office to FO (R18820/2), January 20, 1964, FO 371/178269 (PRO); Lemarchand makes a similar assessment, Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi, 201.

77. Eltringham, “Debating the Rwandan Genocide,” 80.

78. Eltringham, “Debating the Rwandan Genocide,” 85.

79. Prunier, From Genocide to Continental War, 19.

80. e.g. Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers, 273; see also the Rwandan National Unity and Reconciliation Commission's website, www.nurcgov.rw