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UN PhotoUNHCR / DRC BURUNDI DISPLACED
STORY: UNHCR / DRC BURUNDI DISPLACED
TRT: 03:05
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: SWAHILI / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 FEBRUARY 2025, KABURANTWA, CIBITOKE PROVINCE, BURUNDI
1. Wide shot, women and children collecting water
2. Closeup shot, Kasigwa Antoinette, Congolese refugee, packing here belongings
3. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Kasigwa Antoinette, Congolese refugee:
“We fled fighting, there was gunfire and some people we killed but some of us managed to escape. We fled and came here to Kaburantwa.”
4. Medium shot, Kasigwa Antoinette, walking through site hosting refugees
5. Wide shot, asylum seekers standing in crowd
6. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Kasigwa Antoinette, Congolese refugee:
“I am no longer worried. Yesterday I was very scared of getting caught up in the gunfire or even being attacked here, where many of us have found refuge. We were worried, but God helped us and now we will be transported from here to a safer place.”
7. Various shots, UNHCR staff going through registration list with refugees
8. Medium shot, UNHCR staff talking to displaced woman
9. Various shots, Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, UNHCR Representative, Burundi, talking to displaced families
10. Closeup shot, Brigitte talking to children
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, UNHCR Representative, Burundi:
“We have been recieving refugees from the DR Congo for the past few weeks, but the largest number of refugees started arriving essentially around the weekend of the 14th of February, where we got a high number of people crossing from the Rusizi River into Burundi. Currently the total number of refugees who have crossed is about 42,000 people. We have 36,000 people on this side of Rugombo but equally we have about 6,000 people in the urban area, those who came through Bujumbura.”
12. Wide shot, buses ready to relocate refugees
13. Medium shot, refugees getting luggage ready before boarding bus
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, UNHCR Representative, Burundi:
“We are planning to start moving people from here, to the location that the government has provided, which is at the refugee settlement in Musenyi, Musenyi is in the province of Rutana, far away from the border so that will be for the safety of everyone.”
15. Closeup shot, Brigitte boarding bus
16. Closeup shot, Brigitte seated in bus
17. Wide shot, refugees waiting to board buses
More than 60,000 people fleeing fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo seek safety in Burundi, in just two weeks.
Families fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to cross into Burundi seeking safety. In just two weeks, over 60,000 people have arrived in Burundi, fleeing deadly conflict in eastern DRC.
Many of them were already displaced inside DRC, now forced to seek safety across the border. The majority women and children. This number is likely to increase as hostilities in the DRC advance towards the town of Uvira, close to the main official border crossing with Burundi. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Government of Burundi's decision to grant prima facie refugee status to those fleeing the conflict in the DRC, ensuring their swift access to protection and critical humanitarian assistance.
Those arriving are mainly Congolese who were already internally displaced by previous conflicts, now forced to move once again by renewed clashes. Some are arriving from as far as Goma, hundreds of kilometres to the north – another devastating example of repeated displacement in the East Africa region.
UNHCR and partners are stepping up assistance, distributing warm meals and water to new arrivals. Relief items such as sleeping materials, buckets and soap are also being distributed. Community organizations are providing exceptional support to refugees.
Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, the UNHCR Representative in Burundi, recently met refugees who arrived in Kaburantwa to hear their concerns and assess the situation there. Refugees are being transferred to the Musenyi refugee site in the southeast of the country, which has a capacity for 10,000 people. UNHCR staff are registering them before departure and helping them to board buses are lining up for them to board on. The Government also plans to allocate land to set up additional sites.
UNHCR calls on the international community to support the efforts initiated by the government and humanitarian partners.
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