Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda
The Elite Center of Maison Shalom opened in 2018
The Elite Center of Maison Shalom opened in 2018[2]
Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda is located in Rwanda
Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda
Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda
Location in Rwanda
Coordinates: 02°18′50″S 30°50′31″E / 2.31389°S 30.84194°E / -2.31389; 30.84194
Country Rwanda
Admin. ProvinceEastern Province
DistrictKirehe District

Mahama Refugee Camp is a refugee camp in Kirehe District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, near the Kagera River which is the border with Tanzania. In 2016, it had over 50,000 residents, making it the size of one of Rwanda's ten largest cities. In 2021, there were over 100,000 refugees in Rwanda and most of them were here. In 2023 the population was over 58,000 with the majority under the age of 18.

History

Since 2015, more than 280,000 Burundians had been forced to flee and to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda.[3] Among them, were more than 47,000 who went to Rwanda.[3] Mahama Refugee Camp was founded in April 2015.[4]

In September 2016 it was estimated that the camp housed just over 50,000 refugees of several nationalities with more arriving each day.[4] This camp is considered to be a model case of refugee management in the East African Region.[5] Initially the camp consisted of just tents but within 18 months semi permanent buildings were being built using mud bricks. The camp in 2016 had a school with over 100 classrooms where over 11,000 children attended what had become the largest school in Rwanda. The camp had local leaders in the 25 "villages" that make up the camp as well as two health centres, a bus service and a market of stall holders. In eighteen months the refugee camp rivalled the sixth biggest city in Rwanda in terms of population.[4]

In 2021 there was estimated to be 125,000 refugees in Rwanda despite 27,000 returning to Burundi. Only 10% of these still in Rwanda were not in refugee camps. The vast majority of these were in Mahama.[6] The camp remeins full as refugees were moved here from Gihembe camp which closed in October and another camp's refugees (Kigeme) will be moved in when Mahama has space to spare.[7]

In 2021 the International Paralympic Committee decided to support six athletes as part of the Independent Paralympic Athletes at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Parfait Hakizimana of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation, who is from Mahama, was one of the athletes. He competed in Tokyo at Taekwondo[8] in the under 61 kg category.[9] At the Games, Hakizimana withdrew from the repechage section due to an injury.[10]

In February 2023 UNHCR said that there was over 58,000 people living there with the majority being under the age of eighteen.[11]

Notable residents

Burundian parataekwondo practitioner Parfait Hakizimana resides in the camp.[12]

References

  1. "Inauguration of Maison Shalom". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  2. ↑ "Inauguration of Maison Shalom". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  3. 1 2 "Situation Burundi Situation". data2.unhcr.org. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mahama: Now a Safe Haven for over 50,000 Burundian refugees". UNHCR Rwanda. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  5. ↑ Bwiza News, "Kirehe : Le Camp De Réfugiés De Mahama Devenu Une Ville Modèle", Avril 2017, https://francais.bwiza.com/kirehe-le-camp-de-refugies-de-mahama-devenu-une-ville-modele/
  6. ↑ Şafak, Yeni. "US donates $5.3M in food aid for Rwanda refugees". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  7. ↑ "WFP Rwanda Country Brief, October 2021 - Rwanda". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  8. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "IPC announces six athletes to compete for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games". UNHCR. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  9. ↑ Park, Jun-Hee (2020-01-30). "Effect of the Artistic Value and Brand Asset of Taekwondo Performances Perceived by University Taekwondo Demonstration Player's". The World Society of Taekwondo Culture. 26: 85–103. doi:10.18789/jwstc.2020.26.85. ISSN 2233-453X. S2CID 213012357.
  10. ↑ "Taekwondo kicks its way into Paralympics". Agence France-Presse. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021 – via France 24.
  11. ↑ "UNHCR Rwanda: Mahama Refugee Camp Factsheet (February 2023) - Rwanda | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  12. ↑ "Refugee taekwondo athlete hopes for more competition chances". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
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