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GENOCIDE

UNHCR assigns genocide refugees to Sweden

Sweden will welcome mostly women and children in the first group of the year's quota refugee resettlements. The number of resettlements will remain the same this year as in 2013.

UNHCR assigns genocide refugees to Sweden

The Migration Board (Migrationsverket) said that the refugees, most of whom are women or children, had lived in Uganda but mostly hailed from Rwanda, where they fled the 1994 genocide.

"They aren't given citizenship in Uganda and have reached a dead end," board spokesman Marcus Toremar told the TT news agency.

Most of the refugees had at first fled Rwanda for Congo, but had to move on due to the persistent conflict there. Many of the 152 individuals set to move to Sweden in early summer had suffered sexual violence.

"It's among the worst I've ever seen," Toremar said after examining the refugees' backgrounds. 

Sweden will resettle 1,900 quota refugees this year, the same number as the year before. The number is set by the Swedish parliament, but UNHCR identifies the most vulnerable refugees groups and assigns individuals to the quota system. The refugees do not need to apply for asylum. 

"Quota refugees have often spent a very long time in the country they have fled, and can't move on nor go back to their homeland," Toremar explained. 

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