NEWLY arrived Congolese refugees in Burundi are struggling with harsh living conditions in camps and border areas, amid growing tensions with local authorities and aid groups over where they should be allowed to live and be supported in the country.
More than 70,000 have braved dangerous border crossings in recent weeks, driven by intensifying conflict between the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement and the national army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite the violence, interviews by The New Humanitarian show some refugees are already returning home because they are unable to afford rent in towns or cope with the dire conditions in the camps where Burundian officials are calling for them to live.
“Life in the camp is difficult,” said one refugee, who asked not to be named because she feared reprisals from authorities. “There’s mud everywhere because of the rain, and there will undoubtedly be malaria because there are ponds of water everywhere.”
The woman said she was told to move to a camp alongside her uncle, who is living with HIV and relies on her for care. When they arrived, there were few health services available, so the pair were forced to leave for Bujumbura, the economic capital.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, said the arrival of the refugees is the largest that Burundi has faced in decades. It said it is also the first new refugee emergency unfolding since the US slashed its support for humanitarian organisations and response efforts.
To understand the refugees’ plight and the politics shaping the response, we conducted reporting trips to border regions and towns hosting displaced people. Access to the main camp, however, was not made available.
Of the more than a dozen refugees who spoke to The New Humanitarian, many expressed gratitude to the Burundian government for offering them refuge, and to local communities and fellow refugee groups for their support and solidarity.
Still, they voiced frustration over the government’s demand that they relocate from border areas to an official camp, which they say is isolated and too far from home. Most have resisted the move, but feel they are being denied aid as a result.
The New Humanitarian also documented instances of raids and arrests carried out by security services on Congolese refugees and migrants living in cities like Bujumbura, though it is unclear how many people this has affected.
Burundi is deeply entangled in the conflict in the DRC, with its troops backing the national army against M23 rebels. The fighting has strained an already fraught relationship between Burundi and Rwanda, which also has thousands of troops in the DRC.
Déo Hakizimana, president of the Independent Centre for Research and Initiatives for Dialogue, a civil society organisation focused on promoting dialogue in the region, called for a reset in Burundi’s regional posture.
“I have a wish to express for my country by saying we are no longer pro-Rwanda or pro-DRC, we are simply a people of the Great Lakes and we offer our space so that it becomes a space for dialogue – regional or even international.”
An “unsustainable” camp
The M23 rebellion began in late 2021, but this year has seen its biggest escalation, with the group seizing Bukavu and Goma, the DRC’s largest eastern cities. Millions have been displaced internally, and nearly 140,000 have crossed to neighbouring countries since January.
Though many have fled M23 forces – accused of daily killings, forced conscription, and forced labour in cities under their control – deserting Congolese soldiers and allied militias have also been implicated in widespread abuses.
Initially, the refugees were hosted in transit centres along the border, including schools and a stadium in Rugombo, in the northwestern Cibitoke province. When The New Humanitarian visited the area in March, refugees spoke of spreading diseases, and a lack of food and shelter.
In late March, the government emptied the stadium – arguing it was meant only as a transit site, and citing UN guidelines that discourage refugee settlements near borders – and encouraged more than 40,000 people inside to relocate to a formal camp.
Faith Kasina, a UNHCR spokesperson, said the UN agency also worked to “encourage refugees to move to safer locations away from the border where they can get further support, while waiting for the situation in the DRC to improve.”
However, the site refugees were directed to – Musenyi camp in southeastern Burundi – had an initial capacity of just 10,000 and is built on soil with poor drainage. Shelters have already been flooded, and basic services are non-existent or overwhelmed.
Though many refugees resisted the move, roughly 20,000 are now living in the camp, which UNHCR has called “unsustainable” and where the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières has declared a “humanitarian and health emergency”.
Aid officials, speaking off the record due to the sensitivity of the subject, said the deteriorating conditions have driven some refugees to leave Musenyi and return to DRC, though they couldn’t confirm how many had done so.
A Congolese civil servant who also works with women’s rights organisations in DRC, and whose name is being withheld for security reasons, said her 90-year-old father died in Musenyi because he suffered from severe prostate issues and was using a urinary catheter.
“Once in the camp, I think he was not able to get medical attention, and he died there,” said the woman, who has remained in Cibitoke. “I learned that he was among the first arrivals to die in Musenyi. He died far away from me and his grandchildren.”
Alain Ekyoku, a Congolese refugee and a teacher, said he visited Musenyi and found the site “overcrowded”. He said he had learnt of 25 people who had died in the camp since March, though The New Humanitarian could not verify those figures.
The woman who left Musenyi with her unwell uncle said the camp hosts many unaccompanied children, and that poor mobile network coverage makes it hard to reach anyone outside.
“There are children alone wandering here and there, and there are also people who are visibly psychologically affected by the crisis,” she said. “They are afraid every time there is a sound similar to that of weapons.”
In a statement last month, UNHCR said funding shortages mean it faces “critical limitations” in providing services for unaccompanied or separated children as well as survivors of gender-based violence.
The agency said it faces an “impossible” balancing act of running a full-scale emergency response, while simultaneously facing pressure to reduce its operations because of funding shortages.
“Taken by force”
Several refugees said they knew people who were forced to go to Musenyi under police pressure, while others described a coercive environment that led up to the closure of the stadium, including threats of repatriation from local officials.
Several also said they knew of friends or family members who went back to the DRC because they did not want to go to the camp and could not afford rented accommodation outside the transit centres.
“Since pressure mounted on refugees to leave the transit centre for Musenyi, I know at least 10 who returned,” said Maneno Mtumikua, a refugee and community leader in DRC. “Since the first day they returned, they didn’t sleep one night because of clashes.”
The man who is living with HIV, who also asked not to be named, said he was “taken by force” from the stadium to Musenyi, without a chance to properly explain his medical condition to local and camp authorities.
He said some people who resisted and tried to stay in the stadium were beaten by police, and that he was only allowed to leave Musenyi after explaining his situation and showing he had a host family willing to take him in in Bujumbura.
The New Humanitarian asked Kasina, the UNHCR spokesperson, why the agency encouraged refugees to go to Musenyi given the lack of capacity, and if it viewed its support for the relocation as a mistake given the reports of deaths in the camp.
Kasina said the move was necessary because locations close to borders are usually more exposed to security risks, and because the humanitarian services available in Musenyi were better than the stadium, where there were cases of malaria and cholera.
“The stadium lacked adequate sanitation, sufficient water, and hygiene facilities, contributing to poor health conditions and further risk of disease,” Kasina said. “It was also urgent for the local schools where Congolese refugees were sheltering to resume educational activities.”
Kasina said the choice of camp was made by the government, but noted that shelter and sanitation conditions have improved, and that additional land has been allocated for a new refugee site in another province.
Asked about reports of forced transfers by police, Kasina said UNHCR was not aware of any such incidents. She said UNHCR’s role in the relocation was focused on “ensuring the safety and protection of refugees”.
Burundian authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Economic worries
Refugees who resisted the move and remained in Cibitoke in rented accommodation said they are happy to be closer to home in case an opportunity to return arises, and because there are more economic opportunities there.
The civil servant said she is renting two houses for her family, one of which she uses as a small restaurant. She said she has also started a side business selling cooked beans, chapatis, and is learning Kirundi, the local language, to better serve her clients.
Mtumikua, the community leader, said he rented accommodation in Cibitoke because he wanted to continue a cross-border fuel and charcoal business he was running while in the DRC.
Local solidarity has helped refugees, added Ekyoku, the teacher. He said a local church in Cibitoke donated food and clothing to those in need, and that the Congolese community already living in Burundi is also organising collections for new arrivals.
Still, all the refugees in Cibitoke who spoke to The New Humanitarian said they face major challenges – from struggling to start businesses and afford rent, to dealing with the same hardships as Burundians themselves, including fuel shortages and inflation.
Ekyoku said some refugees returned to the DRC because of hunger and hardship in Cibitoke, though he added that many came back again after facing continued insecurity at home.
“Rebels continue to gain ground, and clashes are regular,” he said. “In addition, all the young students we were teaching have joined [militia groups] to defend the country. So everyone has a weapon, including young people who are not professionally trained.”
Some refugees living in the area said they have sent their children to Musenyi, where international humanitarian agencies are present, unlike along the border, where support is limited to the few transit centres.
Ekyoku said aid groups and the government should treat urban refugees in the same way as they do refugees in the camps. “[They should] help us get our kids to school, and give us food for a few days before our businesses start to flourish,” he said.
Kasina said UNHCR has been working to identify refugees in Cibitoke province. “Despite limited resources, our teams have increased verification efforts to identify refugees living within host communities and deliver targeted support to the most vulnerable,” she said.
However, other aid officials from international relief organisations told The New Humanitarian that the Burundian Ministry of Interior has instructed them not to assist refugees along the border and to focus their efforts in the camp.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of jeopardising their work and straining relations with the government, which is known for putting strict demands on humanitarian groups.
Raids in Bujumbura
The New Humanitarian also met several refugees in Burundi’s largest cities, including Bujumbura. They described mixed feelings – welcoming the greater opportunities of urban areas, but struggling with the higher cost of living.
A Congolese refugee who gave only his first name – Pascal – said he moved to Bujumbura because he considers it his second home, having lived there for many years in the past.
“I am happy because I live with my old neighbours,” Pascal said. “My father bought a plot of land here, and we live without any problems. “I am happy with the welcome from Burundians.”
However, some refugees in Bujumbura have been detained by security services, which say they are trying to distinguish newly arrived unregistered refugees from those already living and working in the country with standard documentation.
The government says the arrests, which took place in homes across several neighbourhoods, including one witnessed by The New Humanitarian, were part of routine security checks. However, refugees described the operations as unsettling.
The raids, relocations from transit camps, and daily struggles with housing and livelihoods have all deepened the sense of vulnerability among refugees, many of whom endured abuses in the DRC and difficult escapes.
A refugee who gave her first name, Mundila, said she walked over 100 kilometres from her village near Bukavu before reaching Burundi. She said a motorcyclist gave her a short lift along the way, but police fleeing Bukavu took the bike before pro-government militia forces stole her possessions.
Bahati Mwanga, from a village south of Bukavu, said she left home after army troops began clashing with allied militias, an increasingly common occurrence. She said the violence revived memories of soldiers killing her husband 25 years ago.
Mwanga, who is now in Cibitoke, spoke while surrounded by children she said she is caring for out of compassion. “I didn’t know these children around me before. I saw them crying [while travelling to Burundi] and I brought them here with me,” she said.
A Goma resident called Jacques said he escaped to Burundi after being shot by M23 or Rwandan soldiers (he wasn’t clear) while playing football with his nephew. He said he crossed the border to Burundi “without money, without food, and with pain” in his leg.
While several refugees know of people who have returned to DRC, many said they are not considering doing the same, given the intensity of the ongoing violence and uncertainty about what they would be going back to.
The civil servant who works with women’s rights organisations said she fears returning home due to prison breaks that occurred when M23 rebels took over towns, releasing inmates, including convicted rapists, who have since sent threats to her.
“If I see my business is not improving and I am facing challenges here in Rugombo, I will leave for the camp as others have done,” she told The New Humanitarian. “Even if there is settled peace, I won’t go back to Congo.”
Edited by – and with additional reporting from – Philip Kleinfeld.
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The New Humanitarian puts quality, independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world. Find out more at www.thenewhumanitarian.org.
