Congo Kinshasa & Burundi
Congolese refugees return from Burundi border

afrol News, 21 October - An estimated 20,000 Congolese stranded over the weekend on the border of Congo Kinshasa (DRC) and western Burundi have returned home upon assurances that the situation in south Kivu, where two rebel groups fight to get control, allegedly had stabilised. 

According to reports from the UN refugee agency UNHCR, Congolese villagers first fled their town of Uvira in south Kivu, the Congo, when the ruling rebel group, Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD–Goma), lost control to the Mai–Mai militia on 12 October. Thousands fled into western Burundi. 

Almost a week later, RCD–Goma recaptured Uvira in overnight fighting on Friday, 18 October. This renewed fighting had sent thousands of villagers fleeing towards Burundi, UNHCR reports. "By Saturday, some 20,000 had gathered at DRC's border with western Burundi, but were denied entry into Burundi." 

On Sunday, the leader of RCD–Goma persuaded the Congolese that the situation in Uvira had stabilised. "By that evening, the stranded group had returned home," the UN agency says, "apart from some 60 to 70 who remained at the border." This group was however later allowed into Burundi. 

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency had continued to register a growing number of refugees at two temporary sites that were set up last week to shelter the fleeing Congolese. By the end of Sunday, UNHCR had registered close to 10,000 refugees at both sites. 

In Gatumba, near the Burundian capital of Bujumbura, nearly 5,200 refugees had been registered by Sunday while some 4,600 others were being assisted at the temporary site in Rugombo, in Cibitoke province in Burundi's north–west. An estimated 2,500 others around Rugombo – including some 2,000 in surrounding areas and 500 who arrived at the site on Sunday – were still awaiting registration, the agency says.

At the two camps, UNHCR and its partner agencies were setting up basic structures to care for the refugees. In Gatumba, the refugee agency had completed the construction of 23 shelters. In Rugombo, 41 communal shelters were up. "Each shelter can accommodate 80 people," according to UNHCR, but "the site at Rugombo is too small to accommodate all the refugees currently registered there." Another site was now being identified. 

On Sunday afternoon, RCD–Goma leader Adolphe Onusumba and the governor of south Kivu visited the Congolese refugees at both sites to appeal for their return to Uvira. Refugees at Rugombo said they would like to see how the situation in Uvira develops before deciding whether or not to return. There were mixed reactions from refugees in Gatumba, some of whom showed a willingness to go home. 

Sources: Based on UN sources and afrol archives

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