Congolese refugees in Burundi : trapped between war, camps, and closed borders

SOS Médias Burundi

Gitega, December 30, 2025 – Fleeing the escalating fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), tens of thousands of Congolese have been stranded in Burundi since the beginning of December 2025. Between overcrowded transit centers, forced relocations to the Busuma camp, border closures, and restrictions imposed by the authorities, the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, in near-total silence.

Since the beginning of December, more than 88,000 Congolese refugees have sought refuge in the small east African nation, fleeing clashes between Congolese loyalist forces and M23 rebels along the Kamanyola-Ruzizi Plain-Uvira axis in South Kivu.

Upon arrival, these refugees were grouped in several transit centers, notably in Gatumba, Cibitoke, and Cishemere, in the border areas of northwestern and western Burundi, as well as in Rumonge, the southwestern port city. Living conditions at these sites are unanimously described as inhumane: food shortages, very limited access to drinking water, precarious hygiene, and a near-total lack of adequate shelter.

Pregnant women, children, and the elderly sleep in torn tents or under the open sky, exposed to rain, wind, and cold. Health services remain woefully inadequate, while numerous cases of malaria are reported daily in these highly endemic areas.

Adding to this already critical situation is the emergence of cholera, a highly contagious disease. Several cases have been confirmed in the transit centers, with deaths already recorded, further exacerbating the refugees’ plight.

At the Gatumba transit center, Mulisho, a Congolese refugee, testifies:

“We fled the war to save our lives, but here we are barely surviving. We are living in extreme famine, without drinking water or sanitation, and cases of cholera are reported every day. When it rains, we spend the night standing up because some of us have no shelter. We feel abandoned by everyone, especially by our own government.”

Forced relocation to Busuma

Faced with this massive influx, the Burundian authorities have begun a forced relocation of refugees to the Busuma camp, located in Buhumuza province, in the east of the country, not far from the border with Tanzania.

According to several accounts, the same precarious conditions are observed there. In Busuma, refugees even attacked humanitarian workers during the Christmas holidays, denouncing the forced transfers and the continuing deterioration of living conditions. Several refugees claim they were transferred against their will, even though living conditions in the camp are considered as difficult, or even worse, than in the transit centers.

The refugees explain their refusal by saying they are in constant contact with their relatives back home, who say that calm has returned to some areas of South Kivu. Many are therefore demanding a voluntary return, rather than being forced to remain in the camps.

Musafiri, a refugee opposed to the transfer, says:

“We are being beaten because we refuse to go to Busuma. Yet, the misery there is just as bad. Our families tell us the situation has calmed down. We want to return voluntarily, not be forced to live in camps.”

Travelers and drivers also trapped

In addition to the refugees, many Congolese traders, drivers, and travelers have also been stranded in Burundi since the closure of the Gatumba border crossing. Burundian authorities closed the land borders with the DRC after the M23 rebels seized the city of Uvira on the night of December 9-10, 2025.

Located just a few kilometers from Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital and home to UN agencies and the central government, the fall of Uvira has heightened security concerns among Burundian authorities.

Without clear status, some Congolese are being forced to go to transit centers against their will.

Blaise, a Congolese driver, recounts:

“I had taken some clients to Bujumbura. The next day, the border was closed. I was told to go to a transit center. I’m not a refugee, but I have nowhere else to go.”

The Burundian government has banned homeowners and hotel owners from renting their properties to Congolese refugees, citing security reasons, further complicating the situation for those stranded in the country.

Explosive regional security context

These mass displacements are linked to the ongoing violence in South Kivu province, where fighting pits the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), supported by Burundian troops and the Wazalendo militia backed by Kinshasa, against the M23 rebels. Following the M23’s dramatic advances in the Ruzizi Plain in December 2025, Burundi repatriated a large portion of its troops, deployed there since March 2023. Despite this partial withdrawal, the fighting continues.

These clashes persist despite the Washington Agreement, signed on December 4, 2025, between the DRC and Rwanda under US mediation, in which Burundi participated as an observer, represented by President Évariste Ndayishimiye.

Reactivated in 2021, the M23, now part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), led by Corneille Nangaa, former president of the Congolese Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), currently controls several strategic territories in North and South Kivu, including Goma and Bukavu, as well as major mining sites, notably the Rubaya deposit, one of the world’s largest coltan deposits.

Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda denounces the alleged support of the DRC and Burundi for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan Hutu armed group whose members are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Despite repeated denials from Kigali, a report by the UN Group of Experts, which Rwandan authorities have dismissed as a “sham,” asserts the presence of 5,000 to 7,000 Rwandan soldiers alongside the AFC/M23 rebels.

Meanwhile, nearly 90,000 Congolese refugees were received in Burundi in December alone, adding to the more than 70,000 who arrived earlier in the year, exacerbating the humanitarian and security pressure in several provinces of the country.

Calls for a humanitarian corridor

Faced with these ordeals, the refugees, supported by several civil society organizations, including the New Congolese Civil Society (NSCC), are sounding the alarm to the Burundian government, the UNHCR, and the Congolese government, particularly the elected officials of South Kivu.

They are demanding the urgent opening of a safe humanitarian corridor to allow for the voluntary return of those who wish to go back, instead of forcibly keeping them in a state of extreme vulnerability marked by hunger, disease, violence, and a lack of prospects.