Canada has advised its citizens against travel to Rwanda due to high border tension and fearing foreigners could be ‘targeted.’
Canada joins France which three days ago also cautioned its people travelling to Rwanda to be vigilant and avoid “specific” areas during their stay in East African landlocked nation.
According to a travel advisory seen by this website, Canada warned;
“Exercise a high degree of caution in Rwanda due to the ongoing insecurity in some neighbouring countries.”
Earlier the French government asked its people to avoid these areas while in Rwanda; the border between Rwanda and Uganda, border with Burundi/Nyungwe Forest, and Volcanoes National Park, home to the famed gorillas.
France also warned its citizens not to travel near the Uganda-Rwanda border, “due to the current tensions between Rwanda and Uganda.”
On the Volcanoes National Park, France says there is a risk of “an incident.”
Following recent incidents in and around the Nyungwe Forest- the border between Rwanda and Burundi, France has warned its citizens that, “it is not advisable to trek through the Nyungwe Forest and cross the forest through National Road 6 to or from Nyamagabe.”
An official in Kigali who asked not to be mentioned said, “we will see many western embassies issuing travel advisories of a kind to their citizens.”
But Rwanda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe on Tuesday said government will ask France to retract the advisory because Rwanda has always been safe, “the whole world knows.”
On February 28, 2019, Rwanda closed off its citizens and goods from crossing over to Uganda after Kigali accused the government in Kampala of harboring Rwandan dissidents- an accusation that was vehemently denied by Uganda’s government. Since then, tensions have skyrocketed with Rwanda selfishly barring her citizens from crossing to Uganda.
