Report on Citizenship Law: Rwanda agreements culminating in the Arusha Peace Accords of 1993.24 The Arusha Accords incorporated five annexes, among which is a Protocol on the Repatriation of Rwandese Refugees and the Resettlement of Displaced Persons. This protocol benchmarked the concept of facilitating the return of people wishing to do so by removing any hurdles. Its Article 2 states: The return is an act of free will on the part of each refugee. Any Rwandan refugee who wants to go back to his country will do so without any precondition. Each person who returns shall be free to settle down in any place of their choice inside the country, so long as they do not encroach upon the rights of other people. In addition, the protocol is considered to mark the birth of dual nationality in Rwanda as it laid a foundation for dual nationality to be recognised and legislated for. Its Article 7 states: The principle of dual citizenship is hereby accepted. The laws governing Rwandese citizenship shall be reviewed accordingly. In April 1994, genocide wiped out the lives of over a million Rwandans with nationality of origin: Tutsis and moderate Hutus. At the time of writing, no statistics are available on those with acquired nationality who perished in the 1994 genocide as they were not aligned in either of the recognised ethnic groups. After stopping the genocide and coming into power, the RPF and other political parties which had not taken part in the killings of 1994 formed a broad-based transitional government of national unity. Together, they embarked on a wide range of legal and policy reforms, including the return and resettlement of Rwandan refugees, mainly ones dating back to the independence era and ones who had fled the 1994 genocide. On the basis of the Arusha protocol, hundreds of thousands of people of Rwandan origin were enabled to return without any hurdle. Moreover, those who had lost their Rwandan nationality as a result of acquiring foreign nationalities automatically regained their Rwandan nationality after resettlement in Rwanda without forfeiting their nationalities acquired elsewhere. Before 2003, these policies were enforced through administrative directives. However, a new constitution came into force that year reaffirming the concept of dual nationality in its Article 7 as follows: Every person has a right to nationality. Dual nationality is permitted. No person may be deprived of Rwandan nationality of origin. No person shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality or of the right to change nationality. Rwandans or their descendants who were deprived of their nationality between 1st November 1959 and 31 December 1994 by reason of acquisition of foreign nationalities automatically reacquire Rwandan nationality if they return to settle in Rwanda. All persons originating from Rwanda and their descendants shall, upon their request, be entitled to Rwandan nationality. 24 See the Peace Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and the Rwandese Patriotic Front, signed at Arusha, 4 August 1993, and the protocols (the Arusha Peace Accords) at http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/services/cds/agreements/pdf/rwan1.pdf [accessed 17 December 2019]. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/10 - © 2020 Author(s) 5