Ruyigi : on alert, Congolese refugees trapped, a climate of growing concern

In Ruyigi, more than 60 Congolese refugees from the Nyankanda, Bwagiriza and Kavumu camps, located in the provinces of Ruyigi and Cankuzo in eastern Burundi, were arrested and sent to the Ruyigi police station as they tried to return to their respective camps. A dozen others are missing. They feared for their safety due to the mass arrests of foreigners observed recently in Bujumbura, the commercial city and elsewhere in the country. Last week, more than 150 Congolese, mostly students, were arrested in Bujumbura. The detainees in Ruyigi are mostly members of the Banyamulenge community, according to our sources. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

In total, the Ruyigi provincial police station cell held 62 Congolese refugees until Tuesday evening. According to witnesses, 12 other Congolese refugees were taken to clandestine cells. The events occurred since last weekend.

Reasons for this wave of arrests are multiple. According to local sources, these refugees were arrested on the accusation of not having exit tickets or having exit tickets that had already expired.

“We left Bujumbura for fear of arrest. I had been in Bujumbura for three weeks and the exit ticket that the administration had issued me had already expired. Luckily, I escaped arrest, but everyone who came after me was arrested. The Ruyigi barrier has become a problem for us refugees from the camps in eastern Burundi,” said a refugee who escaped arrest.

“Fear is everywhere in the camps because of these arrests.”

Testimonies collected from refugees still in Bujumbura reveal a feeling of total panic.

“I am thinking of returning to my camp, but I am afraid of what could happen to me because those who considered returning have been apprehended and are now in detention. Arrests are everywhere,” said a woman whose brother was recently arrested.

“We left the camp in an effort to look for odd jobs in Bujumbura because life in the camp has become increasingly difficult, and now we are facing a new form of persecution here.”

The situation is all the more worrying given that a week earlier, about a hundred other refugees from the Musasa and Kinama camps, who were residing in Muyinga and Ngozi in the northeast, had already been expelled to their respective camps.

The small east African nation continues to receive Congolese refugees fleeing the war between the M23 and the Congolese army and its allies.

From February 14 to 16, 2025, Burundi registered 10,000 asylum seekers, according to the Minister in charge of internal affairs, Martin Niteretse. Apart from these asylum seekers, Burundi hosts nearly 90,000 Congolese refugees on its soil.