Violence and Political Instability in the DRC: Putting the Breaks on Refugee Repatriation  

The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI)
Refugee Rights News
Volume 1 Issue 1
October 2004

In the midst of international clamor over crises in Iraq and Sudan’s Darfur region, the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to be relegated to the back burner.

As human rights activist Georges Kampiamba of ASADHO writes, the situation in his country has not changed. He infers that movement towards peace has not been reflected in the safety and stability for ordinary Congolese; and by extension hopes for the successful repatriation of the more than 300,000 Congolese who remain in exile.

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The DRC remains a country of fear. Fears that are shared by many commentators. Carol Nursey, regional director for Central Africa for Oxfam recently said that “there is a peace deal agreed by the parties, but the benefits are not yet felt by the Conglese people.” Insecurity is rife and violence has recently broken out both in the Kivus and Katanga.

The displaced continue to be caught in the middle. As repatriation is getting under way for Congolese refugees returning to Equateur province from the Central African Republic, more are fleeing to Zambia. And many find themselves in the delicate position of having to choose between insecurity abroad and insecurity at home, a situation exemplified by the situation of Congolese refugees who were attacked at Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.

War has rocked the Democratic Republic of Congo for the past eight years, creating insecurity throughout nearly the entire country. The areas most affected are the north and east. The conflict has forced hundreds of thousands of Congolese to abandon their homes and to cross borders to find security. The delay in putting in place an integrated army and territorial reunification have also contributed to the entrenchment of insecurity.

According to UNHCR, about 348,000 nationals of the DRC are living as refugees abroad. Tanzania hosts the greatest number with a total of 140,000, of which 80% come from the Kivu region, in the east of the DRC; the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) has received 90,000; Burundi welcomes 35,000; and Rwanda 33,000; and the rest are scattered among other African countries. The refugee population is comprised of mostly women and children, often exposed to atrocities in the zones of violence. Recently, their number has shot up due to fighting in the South Kivu province where forces loyal to the government have fought those of dissident officers General Laurent Nkunda and Jules Mutebesi.

In addition to this latest violence, there has also been tension that has pitted government forces against the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda in the same province. There is now a conflict unfolding in the north of Katanga where the militia known as the Mayi-Mayi are fighting the government forces, and has led to the flight many Congolese, mainly to Zambia. An additional 3,000 fled in October.

Such violence has prevented the spontaneous return of refugees and UNHCR no longer encourages them to return. This led to fears that the repatriation of 90,000 Congolese refugees in the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, which had been scheduled by UNHCR for July, would be postponed. But as Mr. David Kapya, a UNHCR representative in Kinshasa announced on June 21, 2004, a limited repatriation would be carried out to the northwest of the DRC, to Equateur province.

The refugees from this region fled the province when Jean-Pierre Bemba’s rebel movement Mouvement de Libération du Congo attacked, but there has been relative calm in the region since Bemba joined the transitional government as one of the four vice presidents.

The transitional government has been working to build a common police force in the area, and the rebel troops have, for the most part, ceased causing additional insecurity as they wait for the demobilization process to begin. The repatriation has now gotten underway despite the setbacks and about 200 refugees have already been repatriated.

It is to be hoped that this repatriation will be more successful than that of those refugees who had returned to the DRC from Burundi and Tanzania before the outbreak of the latest fighting in Kivu. Those who had settled in the localities of Luberizi, Kamanyola, Baraka, of Fizi and Uvira in south Kivu, bitterly regretted their return to such a state of insecurity as violence reigned for several weeks in the localities of Kamanyola and Kalehe. This was also the case for 1,364 refugees who had previously spontaneously returned from Burundi in April and settled in the locality of Muturule about 88 Km from Bukavu: they fell victim to looting by the forces of General Laurent Nkunda. 200 returnees from Tanzania at Kalemie, a village located in the north of the province of Katanga, were also affected by the violence.

In light of this situation ASADHO is working to improve the return process, by offering advice to UNHCR on whether returns are appropriate at a given time and on monitoring the security situation of returnees. At the same time, ASADHO works to facilitate the social and economic reintegration of those who return.

But ASADHO cannot go it alone, it is imperative that the international community redouble its efforts for the re-establishment of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only this will permit the UNHCR to convince the Congolese who have fled the country that they can return home in safety.

The writer is a member of ASADHO/KATANGA, Democratic Republic of Congo. The article was translated from the original French by Olivia Bueno.