AFRICA/DR CONGO - The drama of Congolese refugees in Burundi

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "The new Congolese refugees who arrived in Burundi on March 15, 2025, are currently living a difficult life due to the lack of continuous support from United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations," reads a statement from the Congolese human rights organization ACMEJ, sent to Fides. "Fortunately, the Burundian authorities continue to welcome the refugees and ensure a very high level of protection and security," continues the statement from the civil society association based in the Congolese province of South Kivu.
More than 63,000 Congolese from South Kivu province have been forced to flee due to the advance of the M23 troops, who have taken over the capital of this province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (see Fides, 17/2/2025).
"Most of these Congolese refugees in Rugombo, in the Burundian province of Cibitoke, consider themselves fortunate to have good diplomatic relations between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo," the ACMEJ statement reads. "The refugees ask UNHCR personnel working in Burundi to show the same goodwill by applying the guiding principles of international refugee law," the statement continues.
According to the ACMEJ, "the Congolese refugees would not be willing to go to the new camp in Rutana, on the border with Tanzania," which is located in the opposite direction from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which would further displace these people from their homes. The new refugee camp is, in fact, more than 200 km from the camp in Rugombo. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 28/3/2025)

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