Fleeing the hell of violence… stories of death and chaos on the road to Burundi
A steady human tide is flowing from the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo into neighboring Burundi, in a journey of displacement that encapsulates stories of death and chaos across borders.
On Tuesday, Burundian officials reported that 85,000 people had fled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo following the recent advances by the armed M23 movement, and that they are living in catastrophic conditions in Burundi.
After seizing the cities of Goma in January and Bukavu in February in eastern Congo, the group launched a new offensive in early December in the eastern province of South Kivu, along the Burundian border.
This escalation came as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was signing a peace agreement with Rwanda in Washington, under the sponsorship of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Fleeing violence
Also on Tuesday, Corneille Nangaa, head of the political wing of the M23, announced in a statement that the anti-government movement would “unilaterally withdraw its forces” from the strategic city of Uvira, home to hundreds of thousands of residents, which it had captured last Wednesday.
Nangaa noted that the decision was taken “at the request of American mediation,” without specifying a timeline.
Ezéchiel Nibigira, president of the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), a regional organization, said at a press conference that there were 25,000 refugees in Gatumba, in the west, and around 40,000 in Buganda, in the northwest, all “living in extreme poverty.”
Nibigira explained that “the majority of these refugees are women and children who are completely destitute,” pointing to a “severe shortage” of food, shelter, drinking water, and basic health services.
He stressed that “this situation, worsened by overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure, exposes refugees to serious health risks,” with grave concerns about the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, issuing “a serious and urgent appeal for regional and international solidarity.”
“Catastrophic situation”
In southwestern Burundi, Augustin Minani, a local official in Rumonge, described the situation in his town as “catastrophic” to Agence France-Presse, noting that between 20,000 and 25,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo were present there.
“They lack everything. They have received very little assistance, and the vast majority are starving because there is no food, no medicine, and no shelter. People are sleeping in the open on the beach or in the Rumonge stadium,” he said.
The United Nations reported on Wednesday that more than 200,000 people had been displaced by the latest M23 offensive, although the total number currently present in Burundi remains unknown.
