Posted November
By The Express Reporter
AT the age of 45 Fidele Sekamondo a Rwandan refugee currently living in Tanzania does not know what is either a family or his ultimate fate.
He accuses some officials at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Dar es Salaam offices for his ordeal. He does not hesitate to mention the names of these persons as being behind his failure to get resettlement due to nepotism and corruption.
It was in 1993 by then Fidele at 27 years old when he chooses to run to Tanzania for his safety, which was one year before the catastrophic genocide that ravaged the once beautiful country of Rwanda.
He found one Yacoub El Hillo as the Protection Officer in Tanzania and later the same person came back close to the end of 2006 as the United Nations Representative High Commissioner for Refugees, just to find Fidele in the same ramshackle, he later left the country and went to the Middle East to serve in the same capacity.
His timing and the fact that his escape was followed by such nihilistic killings indicates that he was chosen to survive at least during that particular moment of ethnic clashes. He is currently the chairperson of the Federation of the Human Rights for Refugees in Tanzania (FHRRT).
But currently his cry is not survival but resettlement to a new peaceful country where he could forget completely the traumas that were caused by the deaths of his parents and other close relatives whom he alleges were victims of unruly victimization.
He accuses the persons that The Express wanted to hear their voices but could not at the UNHCR namely Ms Evelyn Warioba, Deusdedit Maganya, Ms Octavian Sangali, Ms Florence Nabugale and Mathew Kisegu.
The Express asked if him if it is reasonable for him to go back to his home country after it has undergone several major social transformations he claimed that he will never go back there since this will just bring back sad memories of his beloved ones.
Probably what has caused more pain to Fidele is the fact that he has seen many refugees coming after him in this country and being relocated to various parts of the world but not him.
He claims that some UNHCR officials in Tanzania are inconsiderate to him for all these years. The Express has with it several documents to prove correspondences which unfortunately did not yield any results in his favour.
His several interviews and media coverage did not improve his situation anyhow, and he remains unabated while recapitulating what holds for him for the remaining of his life.
His ambition to become a teacher in social sciences was immediately stopped by the turbulent years in his home country; now without any profession which could warrant him get a formal employment he has remained with but only one alternative, to seek any available and immediate possible assistance.
“I am quite aware that there is a process which can facilitate for one to get a resettlement, I have attempted this process four times without success, the first time being in 2002, since then more that 900,000 have been granted with the same but not me,” he complained sadly.
He claims that a good number of those who have been successful in their applications have landed in the USA, Canada, and Australia and some in the Scandinavian countries but good luck has not been on his side.
The tireless aspiring teacher says that all attempts for relocation in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007 were quashed because of nepotism and for the fact that some officials with the UNHCR have been receiving bribes from affluent applicants.
Letters from the Muhimbili National Hospital psychiatry unit indicates that Fidele has gone beyond the post trauma stage a fact that could indicate that he understands and he can be accountable of whatever he is uttering to the media and other concerned authorities.
Moreover the Department of Refugees, Ministry of Home Affairs have also accorded him positive treatment an indication that he can be a trustworthy person, under such circumstances we at The Express have no reasons to doubt or reject his story.
An official from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Refugees Department, who preferred anonymity because he is not the spokesperson in regard to refugees in Tanzania, said that the case of the above-mentioned is a well known case in his department.
He added that at his current stage the department of refugees has nothing to do with Fidele except to facilitate his living in this country until when it will be decided otherwise with either the minister for Home Affairs or the host country who decides to accommodate new refugees.
He further clarified that it was on human grounds that the mentioned person was still in this country, he was worried that continuing staying in Tanzania while there are many opportunities back home was wastage of time.
In regard to corruption scandals he said that even if he had such information he would not have divulged it to the media because the UNHCR enjoys a diplomatic status. He further ascertained that at his current status Fidele and his colleagues will have to wait until the relevant bodies like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) decides on their fate.
Attempts to get a response from the UNHCR offices in Dar es Salaam proved futile due to the fact that questions in regard to what has caused the reported trend of events to Fidele and his colleagues did not bring immediate responses.
The letter to the UNHCR that was received on July 29, 2011 was never responded to up to the time that we were going to the print. On Tuesday this week this reported revisited the UNHCR at its Masaki offices just to be answered by the deputy spokesperson one Ms Juliana Bwire that the letter was still with the Protection Unit at the agency.
However she said that her offices work on conditions of confidentiality and there was no guarantee whatsoever that it will disclose the reasons for their actions to applicants of resettlement
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