Lusenda, 20 June 2015 – This was on the occasion the celebration of World Refugee Day. The Office of the United Nations High-Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners, including the National Commission for Refugees (CNR), decided to « spend this day, 20 June » with the 3,200 Burundian refugees in this camp located in Fizi territory, sixty kilometers from Uvira, in South Kivu.

Explaining why the town of Lusenda was chosen to host this celebration, Gabriel Kalonda Mbulu, Vice Governor of South Kivu province, said: “it is in difficult times that one recognizes his/her friends”. Therefore it was important for the Congolese authorities on behalf of the Congolese people to come to Lusenda to offer a sign of solidarity with these Burudians. UNHCR Regional Representative on visit to Uvira welcomed this show of solidarity. Stephano Severi hailed the Democratic Republic of Congo as a « model for the African continent and the world », a country where refugees and the local population coexist peacefully. .

The DRC is hosting around 400,000 refugees, including 243,000 Rwandans, 100,000 Central Africans, 42,000 Angolans and more than 10,000 Burundians. It is then understandable that the province’s Vice Governor urged these Burundians to integrate into Congolese society. Addressing them, Gabriel Kaonda Mbulu said: “you are people like anyone else. Let your children go to school, and let the men and women farm the land…You are here like at home”, Mr. Mbulu added in reference to this year’s theme for World Refugee Day, which is « Get to know refugees – people like you and me ».

These words warmed the hearts of these Burundians who, despite their difficult conditions, executed traditional dance steps to the sound of the “famous Burundian drums” that some brought with them when they fled insecurity in their country.

Before leaving Lusenda for Uvira, the delegation donated packages to these refugees, packages consisting of such non-food items as clothes and solar-powered lamps. The only hope prevalent among these refugees was for peace to return quickly to their country so they could go back home. Diane Mawenimana, a 24-year-old mother of two children from Bujumbura described this day as a joyful one “because we feel we are recognized as refugees and as human beings. »

The celebration ended with a soccer game between the local population and the refugees. .

The UNHCR office in Uvira reports that since the events of April 2015 in Burundi up to 14 June, Tanzania has received 53,206 Burundians, Rwanda 30,870, 60% of them children, Uganda 7,188 and the DRC 10,590, including 7,597 in Uvira territory and 2,828 in Fizi territory. .

Jean-Tobie Okala