Rwanda opens new appeal court for refugees and asylum seekers
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Rwanda opened a new court of appeal in Kigali this week to handle legal challenges from refugees and asylum seekers.
The court held its first private sessions to review cases involving refused asylum requests or revoked refugee statuses. Before this change, the ministry in charge of emergency management handled appeals for refused asylum. Jean Damascene Ndabirora Kalinda, the court registrar, stated that the new system moves these cases to an independent body.
This shift allows people to have legal representation during the second instance of their appeals. The Rwandan government adopted the court into law in 2024. While the court was originally a recommendation in a 2023 treaty with the United Kingdom that was later abandoned, officials say the mechanism remains useful for general asylum cases. Rwanda currently hosts nearly 140,000 refugees, most of whom are from the neighboring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi.
