By Edmund Kagire, KIGALI
Rwanda
Congolese refugees in Rwanda have taken their case to different embassies in the country, calling on the international community to understand their plight and take action on the atrocities that are being committed on their own in North and South Kivu, in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Among other things, the
refugees are calling on the international community to hold accountable the
government of the DRC over what they describe as an ongoing genocide and
planned extermination of Rwandophones, who are native to eastern DRC, and bring
to an end escalating hate speech fueled by the country’s leaders, including
President Félix Tshisekedi.
On Monday, representatives of
the over 86, 000 Congolese refugees who live in different camps in Rwanda,
including in Kiziba, Nyabiheke, Mahama and Kigeme, started delivering petitions
to diplomatic missions of different countries including the United Kingdom,
France, U.S, Uganda and Kenya, among others.
Speaking after delivering the
5-page petition, Jean Nsengiyera, representing Congolese refugees from Kigeme
camp, located in Nyamagabe district, Southern Province, said that the move is a
follow up to their December 2022 protests which they held in their respective
camps, calling on the international community to stop looking on as atrocities
continue.
“Enough is enough! We have
said this and we will continue to say it. There is an ongoing genocide in DRC,
targeting Congolese Tutsi, whose only crime is the way they were born and being
born on the other side of the border. North and South Kivu have been our home
for centuries, even before the territorial borders were drawn,”
“We cannot continue to be
rejected and killed in our own country, being told that we are Tutsi and that
we should go back to Rwanda, where we belong. In Rwanda, we are rightfully
considered refugees because we are from Congo. What did we do to deserve this?”
Nsengiyera said.
He pointed out that the
international community is aware of what is going on in DRC, people of Tutsi
origin being targeted and killed everyday as the government continues to play a
role in fueling hate speech and allying with armed groups such as FDLR, with
the aim of exterminating the Tutsi, who are unwanted in their own country.
“We don’t want the
international community finding itself in a position where they will be saying
‘we are sorry, we should have stopped this’ as it happened in Rwanda in 1994.
The time to act is now. Our people are being burnt alive and macheted on a
daily basis with nobody coming to their rescue,” Nsengiyera said, adding that
it is high time something is done.
In their petition, the
refugees are calling for the immediate return of Congolese Tutsi refugees
scattered in various countries to their homeland (DRC), urging for the need to
set an ultimatum to do so.
“Why should we continue to
live in different countries, in camps, as if we don’t have our own country? The
international community should compel the government of DRC to act accordingly
and ensure the safety of Kinyarwanda speaking communities of Tutsi origin and
allow them back in the land and properties,” Nsengiyera added.
The refugees accuse the
international community of siding with DRC in its dishonest actions since the
outbreak of fresh conflict, especially in North Kivu, following the 2022 resurgence
of M23, a rebel group which says it fights for the rights and protection of
Congolese Tutsi.
The refugees accuse the
international community of being hoodwinked by the DRC government into
believing that the conflict affects a small part of North Kivu occupied by M23,
but generally, the Tutsi in DRC, whether in North or South Kivu, are victims of
ethnic violence and hate speech propagated by Tshisekedi and his government.
Prosien Birika Turenge, who
hails from South Kivu, said that all Tutsi people are being targeted in DRC,
regardless of which province or territory you hail from, because it is a
government policy, backed by armed groups with the genocide ideology, such as
FDLR and others.
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