Burundi : more than 20,000 refugees registered by ONPRA, humanitarian needs intensify

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, December 12, 2025 – Since last Saturday, Burundi has been facing an exceptional influx of refugees from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fleeing the violence raging in the region. According to the National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA), 20,001 refugees have already been registered in Burundi. However, the actual number could be more than double, due to ongoing arrivals and areas not yet covered by ONPRA teams.

Richard Uwimana, ONPRA coordinator, warns :

“The actual number is much higher than our official figures, as some areas are not yet covered by our teams.”

A makeshift reception center in Gatumba

In Gatumba, a border town located about five kilometers from the main border with Uvira—the last major city in eastern Congo to fall to the M23 on the night of December 9—an emergency reception center has been set up in a police camp.

The arrivals include many families, as well as members of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and Wazalendo militiamen, mixed in with the flow of civilians.

Living conditions in the center remain extremely precarious :

Lack of food

Inadequate medical care

Basic accommodation, with men sleeping outdoors

High health risks

Despite these difficulties, many refugees express their gratitude to Burundi for the welcome and protection they have received.

Humanitarian organizations on the ground are calling for urgent mobilization of the international community to respond to this worsening crisis.

Regional context : tensions in eastern DRC and repercussions for Burundi

The city of Uvira, which fell to the M23 on the night of December 9, is located a few kilometers from Bujumbura, Burundi’s commercial capital, where UN agencies and the central administration are concentrated. For three decades, eastern DRC has been marked by escalating conflicts involving multiple armed groups.

The M23, composed mainly of Congolese Tutsis and reactivated in 2021, now controls several towns in North and South Kivu, including Uvira. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda denounces the support given by the DRC and Burundi to the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu group whose members are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis.

Burundi, for its part, has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to the DRC since 2023 to support the FARDC and the local Wazalendo militias, further complicating the situation.

As part of diplomatic efforts to reduce regional tensions, a Washington-mediated agreement was signed on December 4 between Rwanda and the DRC, with Burundi represented by its president, Évariste Ndayishimiye, as an observer. This agreement notably includes the disarmament of the FDLR, which President Félix Tshisekedi describes as “a residual force reduced to banditry,” as well as the reduction of tensions in the region.

The fall of Uvira and the persistent instability in eastern DRC have direct repercussions for Burundi, leading to massive refugee flows and exacerbating humanitarian needs.