{"id":223561,"date":"2025-06-29T14:38:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bwiza.com\/?p=223561"},"modified":"2025-07-01T14:02:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:02:47","slug":"border-traders-in-rubavu-slam-migration-department-over-costly-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bwiza.com\/?p=223561","title":{"rendered":"Border Traders in Rubavu Slam Migration Department Over Costly Delays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"277\" data-end=\"571\"><em>Some <strong data-start=\"282\" data-end=\"306\">cross-border traders<\/strong> in <strong data-start=\"310\" data-end=\"329\">Rubavu District<\/strong> have criticized the local Migration Office for providing poor services that cause long queues at the border and significant delays, resulting in <strong data-start=\"475\" data-end=\"519\">losses as goods spoil or are confiscated<\/strong>, while luggage and produce cross early on bicycles.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"573\" data-end=\"780\">This came during a discussion convened by <strong data-start=\"615\" data-end=\"638\">International Alert<\/strong>, as part of their <strong data-start=\"657\" data-end=\"684\">&#8220;MUPAKA SHAMBA LETU II&#8221;<\/strong> initiative aimed at supporting women and youth in cross-border trade in the Great Lakes region.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"782\" data-end=\"822\">Traders highlighted multiple challenges:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"824\" data-end=\"1028\">\n<li data-start=\"824\" data-end=\"875\">\n<p data-start=\"826\" data-end=\"875\"><strong data-start=\"826\" data-end=\"840\">Long waits<\/strong> at the border to pay fees (Kashi).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"876\" data-end=\"944\">\n<p data-start=\"878\" data-end=\"944\"><strong data-start=\"878\" data-end=\"921\">Inability to reclaim unsold perishables<\/strong> such as meat and fish.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"945\" data-end=\"1028\">\n<p data-start=\"947\" data-end=\"1028\">Frequent <strong data-start=\"956\" data-end=\"975\">network outages<\/strong> that stall tax payments to Rwanda Revenue Authority.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1030\" data-end=\"1342\">A shared grievance is the slow issuance of the <strong data-start=\"1077\" data-end=\"1102\">CEPGL travel document<\/strong> which is officially processed in <strong data-start=\"1136\" data-end=\"1150\">three days<\/strong>, but often takes <strong data-start=\"1168\" data-end=\"1183\">over a week<\/strong>, with traders waiting at Rubavu offices not even receiving it. This delays daily commuters who rely on the document, which is immediately used up once issued.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1344\" data-end=\"1477\">Staff only serve on <strong data-start=\"1364\" data-end=\"1397\">Monday, Wednesday, and Friday<\/strong>, forcing traders to return multiple times, causing spoilage and lost customers.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1479\" data-end=\"1644\"><strong data-start=\"1479\" data-end=\"1496\">Border delays<\/strong> of <strong data-start=\"1500\" data-end=\"1525\">30 minutes to 2 hours<\/strong> at crossing points like <strong data-start=\"1550\" data-end=\"1569\">Petite Barri\u00e8re<\/strong> mean goods delivered early spoil when traders are left waiting for stamps.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1646\" data-end=\"1681\">Trader <strong data-start=\"1653\" data-end=\"1673\">Uwimana Claudine<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"1682\" data-end=\"1810\">\n<p data-start=\"1684\" data-end=\"1810\">\u201cWe don\u2019t know what Migration staff are doing\u2014they stand chatting or on calls for long, delaying us and costing us customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"1812\" data-end=\"1882\">Similarly, <strong data-start=\"1823\" data-end=\"1840\">Kamali Claude<\/strong>, who crosses via Petite Barri\u00e8re, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"1883\" data-end=\"2042\">\n<p data-start=\"1885\" data-end=\"2042\">\u201cThere are long, slow-moving lines to enter and exit, unlike on the Congolese side where there are no lines. Why doesn\u2019t Rwandan Migration work like theirs?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"2044\" data-end=\"2203\">Rubavu\u2019s <strong data-start=\"2053\" data-end=\"2083\">Investment &amp; Labor Officer<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"2085\" data-end=\"2107\">Mwiseneza Emmanuel<\/strong>, acknowledged the backlog in CEPGL issuance and said additional staff will be deployed to help.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2205\" data-end=\"2480\">Both <strong data-start=\"2210\" data-end=\"2233\">International Alert<\/strong> and Mwiseneza agreed that processing slows down due to the <strong data-start=\"2293\" data-end=\"2356\">mass influx of travelers after M23 took Goma (Jan 27, 2025)<\/strong>, which overwhelmed limited staff at both border crossings. Migration needs urgent government intervention to reduce delays.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2482\" data-end=\"2658\">Cross-border crossings in Rubavu have surged to <strong data-start=\"2530\" data-end=\"2555\">50,000 people per day<\/strong>, as crossing hours were extended\u2014from 9\u202fAM to 12\u202fPM at Petite Barri\u00e8re and to 4\u202fPM at Grande Barri\u00e8re.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2660\" data-end=\"2893\">Moreover, the CEPGL fee system has shifted: previously paid at USD\u202f10, but now replaced with <strong data-start=\"2753\" data-end=\"2769\">a free jeton<\/strong> for crossings, and <strong data-start=\"2789\" data-end=\"2851\">Rwandans are no longer required to pay USD\u202f50 Peris s\u00e9jour<\/strong>, since M23 took Goma on January\u202f27,\u202f2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some cross-border traders in Rubavu District have criticized the local Migration Office for providing poor services that cause long queues at the border and significant delays, resulting in losses as goods spoil or are confiscated, while luggage and produce cross early on bicycles. This came during a discussion convened by International Alert, as part of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1318,"featured_media":223254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[453],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Border Traders in Rubavu Slam Migration Department Over Costly Delays - BWIZA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bwiza.com\/?p=223561\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Border Traders in Rubavu Slam Migration Department Over Costly Delays - BWIZA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some cross-border traders in Rubavu District have criticized the local Migration Office for providing poor services that cause long queues at the border and significant delays, resulting in losses as goods spoil or are confiscated, while luggage and produce cross early on bicycles. 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