Giharo: arrest of several Congolese refugees including minors

At least 18 Congolese refugees are detained by the Rutana police in southeastern Burundi. According to administrative and police sources, these Congolese were arrested in the Musenyi refugee site in the Giharo commune in the Rutana province and its surroundings. Almost all of them are detained in police cells in the provincial capital.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The recent arrests took place this Thursday morning. They concern two Congolese refugees, settled in the Musenyi site. They add up to other 16 including 6 minors who apprehended on February 16 in the same site and its surroundings. Among these minors are 4 girls.

The persons concerned were first questioned by an OPJ (Judicial Police Officer) in Giharo before their transfer to the police cells in the provincial capital where they are being held.

A climate of increased surveillance

Since the massive arrival of Congolese refugees in Burundi, some three weeks ago, the authorities have reinforced security controls. Searches are being carried out in refugee camps and urban centers, in households and on access roads to the camps, “officially to look for Rwandans supposedly hiding among the refugees”. Searches and raids were also carried out this Wednesday morning in households in the capital of the Giharo commune.
https://www.sosmediasburundi.org/2025/02/26/gitega-une-dizaine-des-membres-de-la-communaute-banyamulenge-en-detention/

According to local sources, no suspicious objects were seized. There were also no arrests.

These restrictions are part of a regional security crisis.

Refugees demand the release of their comrades

After the arrest of the 18 refugees, the Congolese community of the Musenyi site expressed its discontent, demanding the immediate release of its members. According to them, these arrests reflect a tightening of the restrictions imposed on refugees, who feel increasingly monitored and limited in their movements.

While Burundi is already hosting several thousand Congolese refugees fleeing the war, these security tensions could exacerbate living conditions in the camps.

Humanitarian organizations are calling for more humane management of the crisis, while recalling Burundi’s commitment to respecting international conventions on the protection of refugees.

According to the UNHCR, the small East African nation, which was already hosting nearly 90,000 Congolese refugees, has received more than 42,000 more in the past three weeks, mostly women and children. Musenyi, which was already hosting 3,000 individuals, welcomed some 1,600 new occupants last weekend.

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New Congolese refugees, some of whom have been transferred to the Musenyi site where 18 refugees were arrested by Burundian police, February 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)​