Eric Bitaruke, a Congolese refugee from Bukavu, South Kivu, recalls the moment he decided to flee his homeland in 2021. The 24-year-old describes an escalating climate of hate speech and violence that targeted the Banyamulenge, before he fled to Rwanda.

"My decision was not sudden,” Bitaruke told The New Times. "I discussed it with my parents. The environment had become so hostile that people could attack you at any time simply because they identified you as a Munyamulenge or a Tutsi. For them, that automatically meant you were Rwandan. Hate speech was backed by real violence, and lives were being lost.”

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He described a reality in which personal property offered no protection. "Someone could walk into your shop and loot everything without consequence, just because you are Munyamulenge. There was no sense of security or future. That environment forced me to rethink my life and seek opportunities elsewhere.”

The graduate of the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) said he visited his family two times after he left Bukavu, then he realized that even crossing border was dangerous.

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"At the border, security checks were not about legality but identity,” Bitaruke recalls.

"Young people my age were particularly targeted. Some were accused of crimes without evidence, detained arbitrarily, and some never returned. I know colleagues who lost their lives under those circumstances.”

His family eventually urged him to remain in Rwanda. "They told me that they could lose me if I kept returning and asked me to remain in Rwanda until there is genuine calm.”

That calm, he says, briefly returned after AFC/M23 movement captured Goma and advanced towards Bukavu in early 2025. He visited home again and noticed a sharp contrast. On January 27, the rebel movement marked the first anniversary since they took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

"In areas under AFC/M23 control, there is peace for everyone. Life feels normal. People move freely, businesses operate, and fear disappears.”

"We pray this security endures. Because if AFC/M23 withdraws from areas like Minembwe, the only option for Banyamulenge and other Tutsi communities is to flee. We saw what happened after the movement withdrew from Uvira, violence followed immediately.”

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Similar sentiments are shared by Twizere Ndera, 47, who fled Masisi in 1996 and now lives as a refugee in Kiziba camp in Rwanda’s Karongi District. Although he acknowledges that some areas in eastern DR Congo are safer today, he remains reluctant to return. He is one of 100,000 Congolese refugees who live in Rwanda.

"We are happy that Goma and surrounding areas have been liberated, but that does not guarantee our safety,” Ndera says.

"Until eastern DR Congo is fully secured, we cannot risk our lives. We wish the entire region could be liberated so that refugees can finally return home after decades of exile.”

He noted that violence continues in parts of the country at the hands of militias like the Wazalendo and the Kinshasa-backed FDLR.

"In areas controlled by M23, there is peace. In others, people are killed daily, mostly Tutsi. Where government forces and militias operate, atrocities, looting and even cannibalism occur. There is no hope for life there.”

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At Kigeme refugee camp in Nyamagabe District, Beatrice Umugiraneza, struggled to contain her emotions as she spoke about the suffering of Banyamulenge communities.

"What is happening there is beyond human imagination,” Umugiraneza, 52, said through tears.

"Women are subjected to unspeakable violence, girls are raped, and children are stripped of dignity and protection. Sometimes it feels as though the Banyamulenge have no country, because the very state that should protect them is implicated in their suffering.”

"Peace exists where AFC/M23 is present, but the speed and brutality of attacks elsewhere are deeply alarming,” she added.

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Chantal Umwiza was born in Rwanda in 1996 after her family fled from persecution.

"We hear that life has returned to normal in areas under AFC/M23 control, with people working again and hope has returned,” she said.

Umwiza added she longs for a future in which peace extends across eastern DR Congo.

Espoir Serukiza, originally from Uvira, echoed these reflections. After fleeing violence as a child in 1996 and moving between countries in search of safety, he eventually settled in Rwanda.

"I knew I could not return home, but deep down I wished to remain connected to my origins,” he said.

"Hope was revived in me when AFC/M23 took over Goma. People move freely, day and night, without being judged by their appearance,” he said.

"However, the Banyamulenge are not free where the rebels have yet to reach. Drone attacks persist, livelihoods have collapsed, and people live with the constant fear of running for their lives.”

Despite 12 months of relative calm in some territories, renewed persecution has been reported in areas beyond AFC/M23’s reach, particularly in Uvira.

After the movement withdrew from the city following mediation efforts, Congolese government forces and allied militias, including the FDLR, Wazalendo, Burundian troops reportedly intensified attacks against Banyamulenge and other Tutsi communities.