The number of Rwandan nationals voluntarily returning from DR Congo since late January 2025 has surpassed 7,000, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management. These include the latest group of 208 returnees who arrived on Friday, February 27, crossing into Rwanda as part of an agreement signed with the Congolese government and the United Nations Refugee Agency. ALSO READ: “Rwanda has changed,” says returnee from DR Congo The returnees some of whom have lived in DR Congo for three decades said they ahd been held back by the FDLR, an armed group founded remnants of perpetrators of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. ALSO READ: UNHCR boss urges peace in DR Congo to enable safe return of refugees Many of the returnees—women and children—were born in DR Congo to parents who fled Rwanda in 1994. Others remained after their husbands joined fighting forces, while some lost family members in the ongoing conflict. For those returning, the journey marks the end of decades spent living in fear and insecurity caused by the FDLR and other militias, including Wazalendo who are involved in ongoing clashes that repeatedly forced families to flee their homes. JUST IN: Today, #Rwanda received a new group of 208 returnees from DR Congo, most of them women and children. The group, comprising 59 families, adds to those who have been returning since January 2025, bringing the total number to over 7,000 #Rwandans repatriated from DR Congo... pic.twitter.com/ognogyvWvb — The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) February 27, 2026 Figures from the Ministry of Emergency Management indicate that approximately 3.5 million Rwandans have been repatriated from DR Congo over the past three decades. At the same time, Rwanda continues to host more than 100,000 Congolese refugees. Meanwhile, there is no official record of Congolese refugees who may have been repatriated to DR Congo, tripartite agreement was signed in July 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
