DR Congo: More than 7,000 Burundian refugees arrive in South Kivu

May 5th, 2015

A new refugee crisis is developing in DR Congo as more than 4,000 refugees from Burundi have been welcomed in Uvira area in the past week, local Church sources report. Uvira is located in South Kivu, in eastern DRC, and overlooks Lake Tanganyika. The capital of Burundi is located about 15 km from the Congolese city.

The Burundians are fleeing their country for fear that the crisis caused by the protests against the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza, could escalate into a wave of violence, or worse, into a new civil war.

Mgr Sébastien Muyengo from the the Dr Congo Bishops Conference held a meeting with the diocesan Caritas yesterday, to find ways to help the refugees. He called on the local community to help look after the new arrivals.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 7,000 Burundian asylum-seekers in the territories of Uvira and Fizi in South-Kivu.

Source: Fides

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