Congo Kinshasa & Burundi
Renewed fighting in Congo threatens regional security

afrol News, 8 January - In the troubled South Kivu region in eastern Congo Kinshasa (DRC), two weeks of renewed fighting between two rebel groups has caused a new wave of refugees into instable Burundi. While more than 8,500 Congolese refugees have entered Burundi lately, the UN fears many more civilians are prevented from fleeing.

The new fighting originally erupted 26 December in rural areas of South Kivu. By New Year's Evening, it had engulfed the strategic town of Uvira on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, sending thousands of refugees across the border. The latest round of fighting for Uvira once again pits the Kinshasa-backed Maļ-Maļ militia against the Rwandan-backed rebel group, RCD-Goma, which has been in control of the region for several years and heads its administration. 

The last outbreak of hostilities between the two rebel groups was recorded in October 2002, as pro-government Maļ-Maļ militia captured Uvira by surprise, shortly after Rwanda had withdrawn more than 20,000 troops under a peace accord with the Congolese government. On 18 October, RCD-Goma troops recaptured the port town after heavy fighting, which killed around 100 civilians and soldiers and produced more than 20,000 refugees. 

Burundi still shelters more than 12,000 Congolese refugees from the October hostilities, and the government and the UN are concerned about the new wave of refugees about to be produced. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday said that more than 8,500 Congolese refugees had pored into neighbouring Burundi over the past 12 days. Many more were expected.

- There are growing concerns that authorities of the rebel RCD-Goma are preventing people from leaving the volatile area, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva. "New arrivals in Burundi say only those with travel documents are being allowed by the rebels to leave South Kivu," he added. RCD-Goma controls the border between South Kivu and Burundi.

The majority of those fleeing to Burundi do not have any papers and are forced to cross the Rusizi River border before dawn when the RCD checkpoints are unmanned, Mr Janowski says. Many had said they get to the border by 4 a.m. to cross the Rusizi River, separating eastern Congo from Burundi. The waters of the Rusizi are, however, steadily rising due to the rainy season, raising concerns for the safety of those trying to cross.

According to the UN refugee agency, since 26 December, UNHCR in Burundi had registered 7,386 refugees at a transit site in Rugombo in Cibitoke province, and 1,200 at another site in Gatumba, Bujumbura Rural. Burundian military personnel have been registering the new arrivals upon their arrival on the Burundi side of Lake Tanganyika. The refugees are escorted by military personnel through the Rusizi national park to the temporary site at Gatumba. UNHCR in Burundi is further transferring thousands of refugees to safer camps further away from the border. 

Burundi itself is wracked by many years of civil war and the security situation remains volatile. 

Meanwhile, little is known about the proceeding of the fighting in Uvira. The Maļ-Maļ militia however seems to have launched a new offensive to capture the strategic town. A strengthening of the Maļ-Maļ militia in the region could have international implications and even threaten the Congolese peace accord. The militia is hostile towards Rwanda, which yesterday claimed that "Interahamwe and ex-FAR Genocidaire militia remain at large in eastern Congo and continue to receive support to fight Rwanda." The existence of these militias triggered Rwanda's invasion of Congo in the late 1990s.

Sources: Based on UN sources and afrol archives

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