YAOUNDE -- With just one and half years remaining before the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for the termination of their refugee status in any country, the voluntary return of about 1,400 Rwandese refugees to Cameroon is worrying the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

"The termination clause will be applied on all Rwandese whether they are in Cameroon, Congo, France, or anywhere else in the world. We are still hopeful that the progress so far made will be maintained and we still insist that the date for enforcement of this clause will be Dec.31, 2011,"Catherine Hamon Sharpe who is the deputy UNHCR representative in Cameroon, told Xinhua in an interview on Friday in Yaounde.

"The refugees will not be allowed to enter again. We shall seek for them an alternative status but not that one of refugees and this is what we are working on with the Cameroonian authorities," Sharpe affirmed during the celebrations to mark the World Refugee Day.

Officially, UNHCR and the Cameroonian authorities are taking care of about 1,467 Rwandese refugees among the 12,955 urban refugees in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital and Douala, the economic capital. Sources close to the Rwandese community told Xinhua that there's another group of about 2,000 people which has been staying in the country since the 1994 genocide.

This estimation was confirmed by sources within Cameroonian administration. "Obviously, these refugees are more than 1,400. As we continue to pursue those who took part in the genocide, some are likely to continue staying here illegally," a source at the External Relations ministry revealed.

These Rwandese seem to have been very well integrated into the Cameroonian society and they are not likely to return to their country.

"We are hoping that the situation improves if not, we shall continue to stay here," Rwandese community president in Yaounde Francois Xavier Niyonzima told Xinhua.

UNHCR has indicated that the improvement of the political climate in Rwanda for better integration of its nationals who are staying in foreign countries because of the 1994 genocide that left some 800,000 people dead, is dependent on the returning of these refugees to Rwanda.

"We are hoping for some progress but it's the political climate that is our biggest fear. It's also the way the judicial process is being handled especially at the gacaca level (traditional courts). This has been a big stumbling block for the refugees to return and that's why we are calling for justice to be administered in a more fair and transparent manner," Sharpe stated further.

Another obstacle has been finances. According to the UN official. "There are many problems in Rwanda especially land related conflicts because it's a small country.

In the mean time, the UNHCR is working together with the Cameroonian government on what options are available for the Rwandese refugees who do not want to return to Rwanda or who will never return there.

According to Sharpe, the only options available are either the option of long term stay permit or acquisition of Cameroonian nationality through naturalization.

These options were talked about in March during the visit by the UNHCR Commissioner Antonio Guterres.

"This is a delicate matter for the whole world but it's equally delicate for the Rwandese who must now make a choice since they have been staying outside their country for close to 16 years," Sharpe observed.

"The matter is even more delicate for UNHCR because more Rwandese are now fearing that we shall abandon them. But this is not true because the clause on termination of refugee status will be applied to Sierra Leonians, Eritreans, Liberians and Burundians. Therefore we are not just targeting Rwandese nationals," she pointed out.

Out of the 15 million refugees that have been identified in the world, Cameroon is hosting about 100,000 on her soil. This is according to the statistics that were released by UNHCR representative to Cameroon Aida Haile Mariam during the celebrations to mark the World Refugee Day that was held in Yaounde on Friday, two days before the official date.

"In Cameroon, we have 102,648 refugees out of which 81,826 come from the Central African Republic and they are staying in the eastern region and at ADamaoua, 3,665 Chadian refugees staying in Langui and Pitoa camps, 2,871 Nigerian refugees in the north- eastern parts and 12,955 urban refugees of various nationalities," said Aida Haile.

Resident coordinator of the United Nations Systems in Cameroon Thierry Mertens said that in 2005, the world managed to return about 1 million refugees to their countries of origin but in 2009, only 250,000 people were returned to their countries of origin.

Some of the Chadian refugees staying at Langui camp have confirmed that they are willing to return to their country immediately after this year's schooling calender.

The UNHCR official said that she was hopeful the tripartite accord will be signed very soon so that the first convoy of the Chadian refugees who are willing to return to their country can be organized.

(Xinhua News Agency)