from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
DRC Bureau
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – MORE than 33 000 Congolese refugees have spontaneously returned from Burundi to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the past month, following the reopening of the border on 23 February.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called for urgent international support to ensure these returns take place in safe, dignified and sustainable conditions.
Most of the returnees are crossing through the Kavimvira border crossing, near the city of Uvira in South Kivu province.
They had fled to Burundi in December 2015, when clashes between the Congolese army (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo – FARDC) and the armed group M23 forced thousands of civilians to abandon Uvira and other nearby areas.
Ali Mahamat, head of the UNHCR sub-office in Goma, said the relative stability recently seen in the region and the reopening of the border had led many refugees to express their desire to return home.
“UNHCR emphasises, however, that the return has also been accelerated by the severe lack of funding for the humanitarian response in Burundi, which has reduced assistance levels and prompted many to return in a context still marked by uncertainty.”
Conditions in many of the return zones in the DRC remain extremely fragile and present urgent needs.
Initial UNHCR assessments in Uvira and Fizi show that many families are arriving with only a few belongings and urgently need shelter, basic necessities, healthcare, and access to clean water and sanitation.
“Many have found their homes destroyed and their possessions looted, preventing them from resuming a normal life without substantial support,” Mahamat said.
Around 30 percent of those who returned were living in the Busuma refugee camp, where a lack of funding has led to overcrowding and a critical shortage of water, sanitation, medical care and shelter.
Nearly 4 500 people remain in transit centres awaiting relocation to Busuma.
As of this week, Burundi hosts approximately 109 000 Congolese refugees, of whom around 67 000 reside in Busuma.
Currently, UNHCR’s response to the needs of refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in the DRC is funded at 34 percent, out of a total of US$145 million.
– CAJ News