South Kivu : Tutsi Burundian refugees in Mulongwe camp demand evacuation amid threats from Wazalendo militias

SOS Médias Burundi

Gitega, December 30, 2025 – Tutsi Burundian refugees living in the Mulongwe camp in Fizi territory, South Kivu province, are making an urgent appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the National Refugee Commission (CNR) for evacuation to a safer area. They say they are living under constant threat from Wazalendo militias, in a regional context marked by escalating violence and hate speech.

According to several testimonies gathered by SOS Médias Burundi, some refugees have been arrested by Wazalendo elements and then transferred to the town of Baraka. Others say they no longer dare to leave the camp, whether to go to the markets or to the crop fields, for fear of being associated with armed groups like the M23 or RED-Tabara.

“Last week, four members of our community were arrested and transferred to Baraka. For their release, the Wazalendo demanded one million Congolese francs per person, or about 400 US dollars, claiming we were fighters for the M23 or RED-Tabara, even though the M23 is more than 120 kilometers from our camp,” testifies a refugee.

Baraka, a new military center after the fall of Uvira

Baraka, a town located nearly 100 kilometers south of Uvira, currently hosts most of the Wazalendo generals as well as officials of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC). This military buildup follows the fall of the city of Uvira to the M23 on the night of December 9-10, 2025.

Since this event, Tutsi refugees in Mulongwe claim to be systematically targeted and accused of collusion with armed groups active in eastern DRC, solely because of their ethnicity.

“We live under constant threat. We could be killed at any moment. The Wazalendo are everywhere,” confides another refugee.

Regional context reactivated

This situation is part of a very tense regional crisis, marked by the ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel movement, while Rwanda rejects these accusations and 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 Tutsis.

In this climate of regional confrontation, the Wazalendo militias, allied with the Congolese army, play a central role on the ground but are regularly accused of abuses against civilians, particularly against populations perceived as sympathetic to the rebel groups.

The M23, now integrated into the Congo River Alliance (AFC) led by Corneille Nangaa, former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), continues its military advances in South Kivu, exacerbating ethnic and security tensions in areas controlled by loyalist forces.

Hate speech and persistent insecurity

The threats targeting Tutsi Burundian refugees in Mulongwe do not exclude Congolese Tutsis. For several weeks, elected officials, political leaders, and those close to the government have been making increasingly hostile statements, even calling for the lynching of Tutsis and Kinyarwanda speakers, against the backdrop of the war against the M23.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has publicly condemned these remarks. However, on the ground, refugees say that these statements have not translated into any improvement in their security.

Last weekend, the spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), General Sylvain Ekenge, was dismissed from his post, as was an official from the Congolese National Radio and Television (RTNC). The former is accused of making hateful remarks against Tutsi women, while the latter allegedly allowed these remarks to be broadcast, according to official sources.

Urgent calls for evacuation

The refugees in Mulongwe say they have repeatedly alerted the National Refugee Commission (CNR), without receiving a concrete response.

“We are not receiving enough food aid. To survive, we need to leave the camp to farm, but we can’t because of the threats. Staying here means risking death,” they explain.

They are calling on the UNHCR, the CNR, and the Congolese government, in coordination with the FARDC based in Baraka, to facilitate their evacuation to a safer area.

According to local and official sources, the Mulongwe camp, located in the Fizi territory, shelters more than 15,000 Burundian refugees.