Due to budget constraints, refugees in Rwanda will no longer be able to receive some basic services, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and World Food Programme (WFP) have informed the government of Rwanda.

The information was shared by Philippe Habinshuti, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Emergency Management, during the diplomatic briefing held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, on October 11.

He noted that Rwanda accommodates 134,519 refugees, 62.2 per cent from DR Congo, 37.24 per cent from Burundi and 0.56 per cent from other countries.

He said the basic services to decrease include food, hospital referrals as they will be limited to life-saving cases only, cooking energy, assisting support to students attending boarding schools, as well as rehabilitating and maintaining shelters.

“Refugees hosted in Rwanda should not be forgotten in light of the increasing number of global conflicts and crises,” he said.

As of August 2023, Rwanda received more than 11,500 refugees from eastern DR Congo since 2022, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).