The 2014 law relating to refugees in Rwanda: analyzing the gap between theory and reality

Abstract

By May 2024, Rwanda was a host country for more than 135,000 refugees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi. In May 2014, Rwanda passed the Law Relating to Refugees which substantially reflected her international and regional obligations under the relevant refugee and human rights instruments. In 2024, Rwanda repealed the 2014 law by passing the Law Governing Refugees and Applicants for Refugee Status in Rwanda. Although repealed, this article based on literature review analyzes Rwanda’s implementation of the 2014 law in a period of ten years. It focuses on the literature published from 2015 to 2025. Sources were identified through literature searches of Scopus, Web of Science, IBSS, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, as well as Rwanda government’s policy and legal documents, UN and UNHCR reports, International (human rights) NGOs reports, international media sources and peer reviewed scholarly literature. Studies were screened for thematic relevance and geographic focus, and a qualitative thematic synthesis was used to identify core patterns. The analysis shows that there is a discrepancy between the provisions of the law and reality. This article analyzes this discrepancy and the factors behind it by focusing on the specific provisions of the law. The gap between theory and reality is explained by the following factors: the authoritarian nature of the Rwandan state, its extraterritorial military operations, and poor bilateral relations. These factors play a crucial role in determining how refugees are treated and are (un) able to access their protection and rights.