Rwandan refugee denied asylum, farewell

LEWISTON – Friends of a Rwandan refugee who has lived in Lewiston for nearly two decades are pleading with officials to release him from jail so he can say goodbye before he is deported later this month.

Evariste Murangwa arrived in Lewiston 19 years ago to study business at Lewis-Clark State College. His plan was to earn a degree, then return home to help run his father’s manufacturing company back in Rwanda, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

But in 1994, Rwanda’s Hutu majority began attacking their Tutsi neighbors. Murangwa eventually learned that his parents, brother and two sisters had been killed in the fighting, and the other family members he knew there had fled.

Murangwa’s requests for asylum were denied, with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finding earlier this year that because conditions in Rwanda had changed dramatically since the 1990’s, he wasn’t facing any risk if he returned, Murangwa’s attorney, Carol L. Edward said.

Murangwa began efforts to be granted asylum in Canada, but hasn’t been successful so far, and on Aug. 10, he was arrested for failing to leave the U.S. as ordered. He’s scheduled to fly back to Rwanda in a little over a week, Edward said, and immigration officials have declined to release him in the meantime.

“It’s asinine,” said Rich Eggleston of Asotin, Wash., a friend. “There’s no risk of criminal flight. This is a guy who wouldn’t jaywalk. A dozen people here would vouch for him. He should be able to come home and clean up his affairs before his deportation. That’s all we’re asking for.”

Murangwa became like a member of the Eggleston family after Rich’s father offered him a ride at the Lewiston airport several years ago. He has since become the godfather of Rich’s son, was best man at his brother’s wedding, and calls Rich’s mother “Mom.”

Normally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sends an official notice to immigrants who are denied asylum, giving them a deadline for leaving the country, Edward said. That wasn’t done in Murangwa’s case, she said, and he would have complied with any departure date if he’d been notified. “They don’t legally have to send that notice, but I’ve been doing this 25 years and this is the first time I’ve seen where they haven’t,” Edward said. “He’s not a criminal. He wasn’t a fugitive. He was at home when they came to get him and he’s cooperated, giving them whatever information they needed. He’s in jail for what? Because they didn’t send him a letter that said he had to leave.”

The Egglestons have contacted congressional offices in Washington and Idaho seeking help in the matter. But for now, it looks like Murangwa will be held in jail until he’s escorted onto a plane that will take him out of the country, Edward said. Edward said the immigration officer in charge of Murangwa’s case has the discretion to approve a supervised release but opted against it.

Murangwa “is an honorable, upstanding man,” said Mark Eggleston, Rich’s brother. “He came into this country with dignity. Let him leave the same way. He’ll be on the plane. If he’s not, come and arrest me.”