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Rwanda

Hopes to Reunite

The following story has been republished with the permission of the International Rescue Committee

Name: Mirenge ABDULAZIZ
Country of Origin: Rwanda
Date of Arrival: May17, 2000


Mirenge left Rwanda on September 30, 1990, to pursue studies at El-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. On October 1, 1990, civil war broke out in Rwanda. After the war broke out, his family fled to Burundi and he lost touch with them for several years. In 1994, after things had calmed down considerably in Rwanda, Mirenge decided to go home for a visit. However, he was unable to go home because of the genocide that began in April 1994. After the genocide began, he went to the UNHCR office in Cairo and registered as a refugee. He was eventually selected and approved for resettlement in the U.S. in July 1999. Before he left Egypt, he got married in October 1999. Unfortunately, his wife was unable to accompany him because he had already been processed as a single case. He was informed that when he arrived in the U.S., he would be able to file a petition for his wife to join him.

Mirenge arrived in Atlanta, GA on May 17, 2000. During his first six weeks here he received rent and utilities assistance from IRC. In June 2000 he began working for IRC as a translator (he speaks French, English, Kinyarwanda, Swahili and Arabic) and then he became a caseworker assistant. In January 2001 he began working full time as an IRC caseworker and he has assisted numerous families from Africa and the Near/Middle East to become self-sufficient. Mirenge often sends money to his mother and sister in Rwanda, and to his wife in Egypt.

In August 2000, IRC helped Mirenge to prepare the necessary documentation (a Refugee Relative Petition) so that he could be reunited with his wife. Her petition was approved in Jan 2001 and she was interviewed last year. However, her case is on hold until the U.S. Embassy in Cairo receives some more documents from Mirenge.

IRC is helping Mirenge with advocacy and support while he waits to be reunited with his wife. Mirenge says that, I am losing hope because the chances for me to gather all the documents required by the embassy are getting slimmer every day.