“Rejected everywhere” : Congolese refugees threatened with return to transit centers in Burundi

SOS Médias Burundi

Musenyi, May 5, 2026 — In Burundi, the situation of some Congolese refugees living at the Musenyi site in Burunga province, in the southeast of the small East African nation, is causing serious concern. Nearly 120 asylum seekers, who have not been granted the refugee status, are about to be sent back to transit centers, including those in Cishemere, in the northwest, and Makombe, in the southwest of the country. This decision is reigniting anxieties about their living conditions and their future.

These refugees were transferred to Musenyi more than a year ago, after leaving various transit centers in the country. Their regrouping at this site was a logistical necessity : to facilitate the identification and assessment of their asylum claims by the Burundian authorities, particularly the National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA), in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In January 2025, Burundi experienced a massive influx of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, fleeing persistent insecurity in the east of the country. This large influx quickly led to the saturation of transit centers, prompting the authorities and their humanitarian partners to relocate some of the refugees to the Musenyi site, located far from the Congolese border.

Burundi still hosts some 200,000 Congolese refugees, of whom approximately 22,000 currently live at the Musenyi site.

Once there, asylum seekers were required to undergo interviews to determine their eligibility for refugee status. While a majority received a favorable response, approximately 120 people remained without status due to situations deemed complex by the relevant authorities.

At the heart of the problem lies the issue of dual administrative identity. Several of these refugees had previously stayed in the Lusenda camp, in the Fizi territory of eastern DRC. This camp has historically hosted Burundian refugees.

Before arriving in Burundi, some of these Congolese had been registered in Lusenda as Burundian refugees. Upon returning to Burundi and applying for asylum as Congolese, their situation raised doubts about their true nationality, complicating the processing of their applications.

“Burundian in Congo, Congolese in Burundi,” summarizes a lawyer involved in reviewing asylum applications, speaking on condition of anonymity, illustrating the administrative paradox these individuals face.

Since 2023, the UNHCR, through its regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, has implemented a centralized IT system that consolidates refugee databases from East African countries. This system automatically detects cases of dual registration.

Thanks to this system, several refugees have been identified as having dual status in different countries. The individuals concerned underwent a series of interviews with UNHCR protection services to clarify their situation.

Following these discussions, they were asked to choose a single status, resulting in the closure of their registration in the countries where they did not wish to reside.

In some cases, particularly for former refugees from the Lusenda camp, the authorities showed flexibility by agreeing to close their status in the DRC, thus allowing them to retain their status in Burundi.

For refugees facing deportation, the prospect of returning to transit centers is a source of anxiety. These facilities, often overcrowded and precarious, are perceived as places of extreme vulnerability.

One of the refugees involved, who requested anonymity, testifies :

“Although we live in difficult conditions here in Musenyi, it’s nothing compared to the transit centers. There, life is even harder : lack of food, overcrowding, limited access to healthcare. We already suffered in those centers for two months. Today, we are simply asking to be understood. They should also forgive us and close our Lusenda status and grant us Burundian status.”

He continues, worried :

“Insecurity still reigns in eastern Congo. We cannot return home. Sending us back to the transit centers exposes us to even more suffering, uncertainty, and despair. We need protection, not a step backward.”

For the refugees involved, the future remains uncertain. Their fate now depends on the decisions of the Burundian authorities and the ability of humanitarian actors to propose sustainable solutions that respect their fundamental rights.