Gatumba: an increasing number of Congolese flee to Burundi, some end up in custody

Several Congolese from the cities of Goma, Bukavu and Uvira, in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu in the east of the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) keep on fleeing to Burundi as the result of the advance of the M23, the armed group that recently took control of Goma – the main city in eastern Congo and capital of North Kivu. It also installed a parallel administration there. But some of them are blocked at the border or arrested then locked up in the custody of the Burundian secret services.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Most Congolese who were arrested at the Gatumba border between the provinces of Bujumbura (western Burundi) and South Kivu (eastern Congo) are members of the Banyamulenge community.

“The Burundian service agents posted at the border come to sort people. They target the Banyamulenge and take them to the dungeons”, people who were released after some days of detention told SOS Médias Burundi. “All belongings are searched, including mobile phones and computers”, according to our sources.

Visit to Rwanda

According to witnesses and passengers concerned by the situation, “all individuals traveling with a passport attesting that they have visited Rwanda in the past, automatically become privileged targets”.

SOS Médias Burundi has learned that the people who are apprehended belong to all categories.

“There are doctors, women and even agents of humanitarian NGOs,” say sources close to the case.

Refugees turned away

Residents of the commercial city of Bujumbura say they have recently noticed the mass arrival of many Congolese “looking for houses to rent”. But witnesses confirmed to SOS Médias Burundi that “several refugees are turned away by the police when they arrive at the border”.

“Last Thursday for example, there were many refugees, the police sent back to Congo, especially those traveling with children”, say people who witnessed this pushback.

According to sources not yet verified by our editorial staff, the Burundian police have recently arrested many Congolese nationals “suspected of being Rwandan citizens or of collaborating with the M23”.

“Some people were arrested during impromptu searches in houses or on the public highway in traffic jams”, indicate our sources.

Our reporters noted that the majority of those arrested are in the cells of the National Intelligence Service (SNR).

Following this situation, several families, for fear of reprisals, had to flee to the provinces of Katanga and Tanganyika, still in the east of the vast country of Central Africa. There was no reaction yet from the Burundian authorities to these allegations.

Burundi hosts more than 86,000 Congolese refugees, composed mostly of members of the Banyamulenge community, originally from the province of South Kivu in eastern Congo, which borders the small nation of East Africa.

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Passengers on the Gatumba-Kavimvira border, November 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)