Congolese refugees in Rwanda on Tuesday, August 8, commemorated Tutsi victims who have been massacred over the years in different parts of DR Congo.

In an event held at Nyabiheke refugee camp in Gatsibo District, the refugees said the Congolese Tutsi communities continue to face persecution due to their ethnicity.

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With the theme "Remember, Strive for Justice and Repatriation,” the 19th commemorative event was attended by hundreds of Congolese refugees of all ages and representatives of the United Nations refugee agency and various charity organisations as well as religious leaders.

"We are here today to commemorate our loved ones who were killed in different parts of DR Congo because of how they were born,” Bosco Maniragaba, the representative of Congolese refugees in Nyabiheke camp, said.

"Where I grew up in Katanga, people were killed, others burnt for no crime but how they were born. And the torture has continued,” he said, adding that similar abuses happened in South Kivu, North Kivu, Lubumbashi and Kinshasa.

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"A Tutsi in Congo is seen as an animal and is hunted every day. They are being killed even as we speak,” Maniragaba said. "I want to tell everyone here, especially the young, that one day we will return to our motherland Congo. However long we may stay in refugee camps, we will not be refugees forever.”

Maniragaba extended his thanks to the Rwandan government for hosting the Congolese refugees and ensuring their safety in camps.

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Rwanda hosts more than 82,000 Congolese. Some of them have lived in camps for more than 25 years.

Except for a spontaneous return of some 4,000 Congolese people in 2003, no organized voluntary repatriation facilitated by the Congolese government and the UN refugee agency has taken place.

At the invitation of the UN refugee agency in May 2023, the Rwandan and Congolese governments agreed to revive agreements signed in 2010 to develop a road map for the voluntary repatriation.

At a meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya in June, officials from the two governments agreed on a roadmap that will include cross-border visits by refugees and officials in order to facilitate the voluntary repatriation.

However, the UN’s office for genocide prevention says mass killings and property destructions continue unabated in eastern DR Congo and could plunge the country into a genocide.