A total of 382 Rwandans returned from DR Congo on Wednesday, October 8, as part of an ongoing joint repatriation effort supported by the UN Refugee Agency.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), the new returnees will be temporarily housed at Nyarushishi Transit Centre for further repatriation process, joining over 4000 who have returned since January 2025.
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The returnees who crossed the Grande Barrière Border Post in Rubavu District into Rwanda, were officially received by Rubavu District Mayor, Prosper Mulindwa, along with staff from the UN Refugee Agency.
"You made the right choice," Mulindwa told returnees, some of whom have lived in DR Congo for three decades under the control of FDLR, a militia founded by remnants of perpetrators of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
"They&039;ve been using you. They didn't want you to leave Congo because that would make them weak," Mulindwa added. "But this is a nice country; it's safe and welcoming."
He encouraged the local community to welcome the returnees and provide them with information on government programmes.
Ariane Mukeshimana, a 31-year-old mother of two, was a farmer in Masisi territory. She explained that her husband’s relatives, who come from Musanze District in the former Ruhengeri Prefecture, encouraged them to return to Rwanda.
"They told us that Rwanda is peaceful,” narrated Mukeshimana. "We were tired of the wars in Congo. We were always on the run, day and night.”
Jean Claude Ndayishimiye, 23, also returning from Masisi, tilled the land rented by his father after he died some years ago. He arrived in Rubavu with his siblings.
"We’re returning home to Ruhengeri," said Ndayishimiye, "and we are overjoyed after landing in Rwanda.”
"Our grandfather used to tell us that it is safe here, that we should come and leave Congo.”
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Meanwhile, the return of Congolese refugees living in Rwanda remains stalled due to the persistent insecurity in eastern Congo.
Rwanda presently hosts over 100,00 Congolese refugees, many of whom have been in the country for over three decades after fleeing wars and ethnic violence.