Uvira : M23 facilitates the return of stranded Burundians

SOS Médias Burundi

Uvira, December 15, 2025 – Stranded in Uvira since the M23 seized the city on the night of December 9-10, 2025, Burundian workers and refugees have been allowed to return to their country. The rebel movement describes the operation as a humanitarian gesture, while the borders on the Burundian side remain closed.

Return home after several days of stranding

On Sunday, December 14, day laborers—traders, motorcycle taxi riders, construction workers, and others—crossed the border via the Kavimvira-Gatumba crossing, some with their belongings, others with their motorcycles or bicycles. On Monday, December 15, approximately 500 Burundian refugees still in Uvira were also repatriated.

These operations were presented by the M23 as humanitarian gestures. One of its spokespeople clarified that the movement had “no problem with African people, much less with Burundians,” and that it could not be held responsible for the prolonged blockade of these citizens. According to him, the border on the Congolese side had remained open, and the M23 was implementing a policy of free movement in the areas under its control.

Experiences of Burundians in Uvira

Emmanuel M., a motorcycle taxi driver repatriated on Sunday, expressed his relief at being able to leave Uvira :

“I was afraid that the M23 might consider me their enemy, since they are fighting against our Burundian soldiers.”

Like him, many Burundians had ceased all activity for fear of reprisals or being targeted in a city now under the control of the rebel movement.

Regional context and impact on the border

The city of Uvira, which fell to the M23 on the night of December 9-10, is located just a few kilometers from Bujumbura, Burundi’s commercial capital and home to UN agencies and the central government. For nearly three decades, the eastern DRC has been the scene of a near-constant escalation of armed conflict involving a multitude of rebel groups.

Reactivated in 2021, the M23, composed mainly of Congolese Tutsis, controls several strategic locations in North and South Kivu. The movement is now part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), led by the former president of the Congolese Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Corneille Nangaa, who advocates for a federal state in the DRC. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda denounces the alleged support of the DRC and Burundi for the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu armed 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, the Congolese loyalist army, and the local Wazalendo militias, further complicating the situation.

In this context, traditional supply, trade, and population routes between Uvira and Bujumbura have been disrupted, exacerbating the humanitarian and security crises on both sides of the border. The closure of the Gatumba border crossing illustrates the scale of the fighting’s regional impact and the difficulty Burundi faces in simultaneously managing national security and the massive influx of people fleeing the violence.

Burundian authorities have closed land borders with the DRC since December 10, forcing many Congolese to remain stuck in Bujumbura.