Rwanda has received 532 Rwandans who had been living as refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they returned after a decision that was made during the recent meeting between both countries (Rwanda and DRC) together with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
These Rwandans were received on this morning of Monday, 25 August, 2025, as they entered through the “Grande Barrière” border post connecting Rwanda and the DRC.
Their return follows a resolution adopted at a meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which brought together the governments of Rwanda and DRC, along with UNHCR. The resolution required that refugees from each country living in the other be repatriated.
This group joins other 1156 Rwandans that returned by May this year, after spending years in eastern DRC where they had fled.
At the beginning of this year, it had been planned that more than 2,000 would be repatriated, as they had already been gathered in the city of Goma.
Most of the Rwandan returnees told the media that they came back voluntarily, without any form of coercion. Others explained that while in the forests of Congo, they had been held by armed groups, including those composed of individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Those who arrive at different times are temporarily hosted at the Kijote transit camp in Bigogwe Sector, Nyabihu District. There, they undergo screening and provide information about where their families are, in order to help prepare them to reintegrate into normal life through Rwanda’s national reintegration programs.
RADIOTV10
