Hundreds of Congolese refugees voluntarily repatriated from Burundi

Hundreds of Congolese refugees living at the Busuma camp in Burundi's Buhumuza province have been voluntarily repatriated to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.

Early in the morning, people packed up their belongings and got ready to leave.

For many it was a joyous occasion, as they looked forward to going home.

Antoine Gashindi, a Congolese refugee, was eager to leave and escape the poor conditions in the camp.

"I feel very, very good about going to Congo. I really miss my country, I really do. Here in Busuma, there are lots of problems; there are diseases, lots of people have left (meaning they’ve died) and it’s hard to get water and food; it’s a real mess. So the living conditions here in Busuma were really bad.”

Busuma is Burundi’s largest refugee camp for people fleeing the violence in neighbouring Congo.Most of the more than 66,000 residents came from the town of Uvira, following its capture by M23 rebels in December.

Once on board the bus, Antoine had some last words for the country that welcomed him in:

“I feel truly joyful. I am going to return to my country with honour. In Burundi, I have just one simple message: I thank the President of the Republic of Burundi, His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, for welcoming me here to Burundi.”

But not everyone is eligible for the reparation effort. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which is organising the return, wants to make sure people don’t go back to an unsafe situation.

“Because security conditions are not entirely optimal, only those who can return to secure areas will be able to leave, and only those who feel they can return," says Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, a UNHCR Representative in Burundi.

"Because return is entirely voluntary, strictly voluntary for the refugees living here in Burundi," she added.

More than eight million people from eastern DRC have been displaced by the escalation in violence between government forces and M23 rebels.

More than one million are being hosted across Africa, according to the United Nations. Burundi alone hosts about 100,000 Congolese refugees.