Rwandan refugees to be sent home by Uganda. Does this group require protected status? http://twurl.nl/t7zsr6 (via @vigilo, @ai_armswarcrime)

There’s generally a lot of confusion out there about who “counts” as a refugee and is, as such, deserving of special protection under international law. Or perhaps the confusion is with this particular group of Rwandans, about whose past actions we’re not so clear. In short, if these people are afraid of persecution in Rwanda, then they ought not to be returned to their home country…unless they are criminals, in which case they ought not to be afforded refugee protection.

The Rwandans are a particularly difficult group: their government has officially welcomed home even those who were involved in the genocide and has promised to work on their reintegration into society. But in practice there have been very mixed results for returning Rwandans, as the article highlights: while some have been successfully reintegrated (especially through the restorative gacaca courts), others have been accused and punished (whether or not they actually participated). While this really speaks to the problems of the Rwandan justice system, it’s also important to note that a credible fear of prosecution really isn’t the same as fear of persecution.