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UGANDA / CONGOLESE REFUGEES
STORY: UGANDA / CONGOLESE REFUGEES
TRT: 1:53
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: SWAHILI / KINYARWANDA / NATS
DATELINE: 11 NOVEMBER 2021, NYAKABANDE TRANSIT CENTRE, KISORO AND BUNAGANA BORDER, UGANDA
1. Wide shot, Enoch sitting with his family
2. Med shot, Enoch and his children looking on
3. Med shot, Enoch and his wife carrying their property
4. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Enoch Twaza, Congolese refugee:
“I heard gunfire so I ran away. When I fled, I walked all the way to Nyakabande. When I arrived in Nyakabande, I stayed here for two days. I heard it’s now calm at home, so I decided to return.”
5. Various shots, refugees walking, carrying their property
6. Med shot, sheep and people walking
7. Wide shot, people standing together
8. Med shot, people carrying luggage
9. Wide shot, people pushing bicycles, carrying luggage
10. Wide shot, Mongera Bahiira, Congolese Refugee sitting with his family
11. Close up, Mongera looking on
12. Med shot, Mongera standing with his family
13. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mongera Bahiira, Congolese Refugee:
“We realized that there's always fighting in Congo. We can’t keep fleeing every now and then, so we came here to find a safe place to stay.”
14. Wide shot, people walking and children sitting on sacks in foreground
15. Close up, young boy’s face
16. Close up, tilt up of his face
17. SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Safari Nekuze, Congolese Refugee, Mongera’s wife:
“l became sick from carrying heavy luggage. It was going to kill me. I’m also worried about my older children who stayed behind in Masisi village.”
18. Wide shot, people walking and standing together
19. Wide shot, people pushing luggage on makeshift bikes
20. Various shots, refugees walking
21. Wide shot, women holding babies, sitting on the ground
While sporadic fighting continues in parts of eastern DR Congo, thousands who fled to Uganda have chosen to return. Others, uncertain about the future, have opted to stay.
Enoch Twaza, 50, is taking his family back home to Bunagana, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The family will walk 20 kilometres, carrying luggage and leading their livestock home. The Twaza’s are among 11,000 refugees who recently made the border crossing from Uganda after Ugandan and Congolese security officials informed them it was safe to return home.
In early November clashes broke out between armed groups and the Congolese armed forces, forcing asylum seekers to flee to Uganda. Though 10,000 people have since returned, some refugees are worried about their safety and have chosen to remain behind.
Mongera Bahiira, 60, his wife and six of their thirteen children were forced to flee with whatever belongings they could carry after their village in Masisi, in North Kivu province’s Rutshuru Territory was attacked by armed militia in early October. They hitched a ride on a truck that took them to Bunagana town, near the border with Uganda, where they stayed with relatives for about a month. But when fighting broke out in the villages surrounding the town on 8 November, the Ugandan government opened the border – which has been closed due to COVID-19 restrictions – and allowed those fleeing the violence to enter.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister and other partners provided assistance to the refugees, relocating about 500 Congolese, including Mongera’s family, to Nyakabande transit centre. The unstable situation has left some torn between staying and going home.
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