Mahama (Rwanda) : More than 2,000 new Congolese refugees welcomed

The Mahama camp welcomed more than 2,000 new Congolese refugees from the Nkamira transit camp on Tuesday. They are all Rwandophones and come from from the eastern part of Congo. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

They arrived in the evening of Tuesday at the Mahama camp located further east of Rwanda. These new Congolese refugees came aboard 38 large buses, each with 60 people.

“They spent the night in a part called ‘isolation’ in zone II to await their assignment to residential houses. They are mostly women and children,” says a refugee from this camp who attended their reception.

“Other daily activities such as the distribution of clothes were almost suspended on Tuesday for this purpose,” added other refugees.

These Congolese were initially sheltered in the Nkamira transit camp located in the Rubavu district in northwestern Rwanda. They are almost all Rwandophones and are mainly fleeing the fighting between their government and the M23 rebel movement.

According to UNHCR data, more than 17,000 asylum seekers have fled the DRC to Rwanda since the beginning of last year. Asylum seekers are initially accommodated in the Nkamira transit center, located just 20 km from the border with Goma, the capital of North Kivu, before being relocated to other refugee camps, presumably Mahama.

While more than 10,000 asylum seekers have been relocated, Nkamira currently remains with more than 6,300 people, some of whom have been in the transit center for many months, as space and shelter in the existing camps are rapidly running out.

UNHCR data reveal that 83% of new asylum seekers are women and children who have been caught up in the turmoil in North Kivu province.

Despite UNHCR’s efforts to meet the growing needs of these new asylum seekers, the UN agency says access to basic necessities such as medicine, food and bedding in the Nkamira transit centre remains a persistent problem.

“The lack of adequate shelter has led to overcrowding, making it difficult to maintain proper hygiene and privacy. That is why we are moving and relocating them to well-established camps as quickly as possible,” the UNHCR says.

However, with the support of donors such as the United States and European humanitarian aid, the UNHCR is managing to set up informal education programs for children and young asylum seekers living in Nkamira. Health services are also available as well as psychosocial support to help asylum seekers cope with the circumstances they have fled.

At Mahama camp, they will meet their compatriots who number more than 23,000 and more than 40,000 Burundians.