Photo of the week-Buhumuza : Busuma camp in shock, hundreds of Congolese refugees die in undignified conditions

Since December 2025, more than 300 Congolese refugees, including many children and the elderly, have died in the Busuma camp in Buhumuza province, eastern Burundi, due to extremely precarious living conditions, infectious diseases, and a lack of food and medical assistance.

A Dramatic health crisis

Since December 10, 2025, the Busuma camp, located in the Kayongozi zone of ​​Ruyigi district, in Buhumuza province, eastern Burundi, has seen a series of deaths among Congolese refugees, causing serious concern among the refugee population and surrounding communities.

According to information gathered on site and observations made at the local cemetery, more than 300 deaths have been recorded, linked to illness and the extreme precariousness of living conditions. As of January 29, 2026, a total of 349 recent graves had been recorded at the Bikinga sub-village cemetery, on the eastern outskirts of the camp. No recent deaths have been reported among the neighboring Burundian population.

The victims are primarily children between the ages of zero and five and people over 70, but some elderly women have also been found dead at dawn, even though they appeared to be in good health the day before.

Extreme poverty and inhumane living conditions

Refugees report recurring health problems and difficult living conditions, including :

Malnutrition among young children

Infectious diseases such as cholera, dysentery, measles, and malaria

Inadequate shelters exposed to the cold

Lack of drinking water and water points

Irregular food distribution

“We live in fear, as some deaths are reportedly linked to the extreme cold inside the shelters, largely caused by lung infections,” testifies a refugee.

Another refugee laments the slow pace of construction of the small houses, the lack of water points and drinking water, as well as the difficulties in distributing food rations. “Some of the deceased would have died of starvation and would not have died if food assistance had been available in time,” he adds.

Sudden and worrying deaths

Some victims died without any visible warning signs of illness, raising concerns among camp residents. Health authorities and local hospitals believe these deaths could be linked to extreme fatigue among the refugees after the long journeys they undertook before arriving in Burundi.

Reaction from authorities and humanitarian partners

The authorities of the National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA), in collaboration with provincial health services, have confirmed some deaths since December 10, 2025. They specify, however, that only three people succumbed to cholera, the others having died of natural causes.

Fiacre Nkunzimana, an official at ONPRA, reassured the public : “There is no ongoing medical or epidemiological alert. The cholera outbreak is under control. More than 184 people who previously tested positive at the beginning of January are now recovering and ready to return to their shelters.”

At the Buhumuza Provincial Health Directorate (DPS), teams are deployed to ensure the vaccination of children and guarantee the well-being of refugees and host communities, in collaboration with several partner organizations, including :

TPO (Transcultural Psychosocial Organization)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

World Health Organization (WHO)

Regional security context

The Buhumuza camp currently hosts more than 70,000 Congolese refugees who fled hostilities in several towns and villages in South Kivu, eastern DRC, in December 2025. This violence involves the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), supported by Burundian troops and the Wazalendo militia, against the M23 rebels, predominantly composed of Congolese Tutsis, now integrated into the Congo River Alliance (AFC).”

The coalition against the M23 also includes the FDLR, accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. The AFC, led by Corneille Nangaa, former president of the Congolese Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), advocates for the establishment of a federal state in the DRC. The movement controls several strategic areas, including Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of the two Kivus, as well as the Rubaya mining site, one of the world’s largest coltan deposits.

According to an internal report from the Congolese Ministry of the Interior and Security, consulted by SOS Médias Burundi, the small east African nation deployed more than 29,000 soldiers in eastern DRC between August 2022 and December 2025. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda, for its part, criticizes Burundi and the DRC for supporting the FDLR. However, a report by the UN Group of Experts, which Kigali has dismissed as “imposters,” confirms the presence of 5,000 to 7,000 Rwandan soldiers alongside the M23 rebels.

Despite the Washington Agreement signed on December 4, 2025, under the US mediation between the DRC and Rwanda, clashes continue on the ground. Burundi is bound by the agreement as an observer and was represented by President Évariste Ndayishimiye.

Call for humanitarian action

Refugees and humanitarian workers are calling for a swift intervention, strengthened health services, and dignified living conditions to prevent further deaths in the Busuma camp.

Our photo : very recent graves have been observed at the Bikinga cemetery, not far from the Busuma camp in Buhumuza province, eastern Burundi. Since December 2025, several refugee families in the camp have lost loved ones, victims of extremely precarious living conditions, lack of drinking water, food, and access to healthcare. This cemetery is a sad testament to the rising number of deaths in the region