Refugees
who don’t live in camps will, beginning September this year, get access
to health insurance coverage, the Ministry of Emergency
Management (MINEMA) has said.
The development follows a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) signed between MINEMA, Rwanda Social Security Board
(RSSB) and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) on
June 25, 2019.
Speaking to The New Times, Jean
Claude Twishime, Public Relations and Communications Officer at MINEMA
said that the move was in line with the implementation of the 2015
commitments that Rwanda made including providing them with refugee IDs
and passports, supporting them with development projects, as well as
integrating them in the national health insurance scheme.
He noted that the project will benefit
12,045 urban refugees who are in Rwanda, as well as 1780 student
refugees staying in boarding schools and universities across Rwanda.
He indicated that the UNHCR would be
contributing Rwf 7,000 for each refugee to be enrolled in the Community
Health Insurance Scheme – Mutuelle de Santé. Over Rwf96 million has been
allocated for the purpose this year (2019).
Such refugees, he explained, are
considered as a special group because they are not considered in Ubudehe
- Rwanda’s classification of citizens depending on their economic
status – because their economic profiles are not documented in the
country.
“We have partners, health posts and health
centres that help us treat refugees in camps. But, imagine a refugee
who is in Kigali and has to pay for a shelter, as well as other needs
including education,” he said, adding that the health sector is an
aspect that should be given more priority.
He said that the government has embarked
on refugee inclusion in terms of economic development so that they start
enjoying services that all the citizens are entitled to.
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