Respecting Her International Obligations? Analyzing Rwanda’s 2014 Law Relating to Refugees

Abstract

Rwanda enacted the 1966 Presidential Decree on the Reintegration of Refugees and later the 1984 Ministerial Decree on Identity Papers for Refugees as its first laws in dealing with refugees. However, the above decrees were meant for regulating the reintegration of Rwandan refugees returning from exile. The first law to deal with refugees from other countries was enacted in 2001 and later modified and complemented by a 2006 Law. In 2003 a new Constitution (amended in 2015) with a comprehensive Bill of Rights was promulgated. Because of these developments, it was necessary to enact a new law and make it fully compatible with Rwanda’s national, regional and international obligations. As a result, in May 2014, Rwanda passed the Law Relating to Refugees which integrates its obligations into the refugee legal regime. This article critically reviews the 2014 Law Relating to Refugees and Rwanda’s refugee obligations in light of its international human rights obligations. The article argues that the 2014 Law substantially reflects Rwanda’s international and regional obligations under the relevant refugee and human rights instruments, but finds that some gaps, such as the non-recognition of environmental refugees, a weak appeals mechanism and the need to clarify the role of the department in charge of immigration and emigration in reviewing asylum applications.