Kankundiye Mutezinka fled her village in the North Kivu province of DR Congo in 2012. From her house in Kigeme refugee camp in Southern Rwanda, Mutezinka says she does not remember the exact date and month she left, because she had been wounded in the chest. “I woke up in a hospital in Butare,” says Mutezinka, who lives with her four children in Kigeme camp, which hosts 14,000 Congolese refugees. Mutezinka has now healed but when she does a physically demanding task like a long walk, she has trouble breathing. Her voice shakes when she talks about her ordeal and her husband, who was killed by armed militia in Kanyabyondo, Masisi. ALSO READ: Congolese refugees protest over genocide in homeland One of nearly 77,000 of Congolese refugees in Rwanda as of May 2021, Mutezinka says she is tired of living in exile. But the violence against her Tutsi community in Masisi and other eastern provinces has worsened after the offensive by the M23 rebels in May this year. As of May 2021, Congolese refugees made up 60 per cent of all refugees in the country, according to the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management. Most of them have lived in Rwanda for over 25 years, and the majority live in the four camps of Kigeme, Mugombwa, Kiziba and Mahama. Eastern DR Congo remains the home of over 120 armed groups, who have committed atrocities for nearly three decades. ALSO READ: UN confirms FDLR active in DR Congo, warns of genocide This week, Mutezinka joined thousands of refugees in Kigeme camp in a peaceful march that called on the international community and the Kinshasa government to stop the genocide against Congolese Tutsi communities, and to facilitate their return to a safe country. Similar demonstrations have taken place in other camps. The decades of insecurity, at the hands of groups like the terrorist FDLR, have displaced millions of people, while hundreds of thousands others fled to neiaghbouring countries. There have been regional attempts to resolve the issue of the return of refugees. Last month in Luanda, Angola regional leaders agreed to create conditions by December 10, which shall facilitate the Congolese refugees to return. However, sources familiar to the matter say Kinshasa lacks political will to facilitate their return. Violence has instead worsened, leading to the alert in November by UN special advisor on genocide prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, who said there were warning signs of atrocities in eastern DR Congo. Kinyarwanda-speaking communities like that of Banyamulenge in South Kivu have been the target of militia attacks. “We are in refugee camps in Rwanda, but we have families in Congo,” 30-year-old Immaculee Kayitesi, who lives in Kigeme camp, told The New Times. “They are brutally killed every day. Those who are alive today cannot be sure he will still be alive tomorrow. We wish them to have security, so that we can also go back home. We are tired of living in exile.” ALSO READ: EU sanctions FDLR top commander over atrocities in DR Congo Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels – allegations Rwanda has dismissed. Rwanda instead accused the Congolese armed forces of colliding with the FDLR, which was founded by people responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In an ongoing propaganda, whipped up by some politicians, the Congolese Tutsi are called Rwandans or supporters of Rwanda. “Before the country was named Congo, we lived on that land. But it is surprising today that the Tutsi does not have the right to live in his country,” said 58-year-old Josue Gashabuka. The UN says the FDLR has been a key player in the ongoing genocidal violence targeted at the Congolese Tutsi. “Combatants of the FDLR are killing our relatives in Congo and they are the one who made us flee our country,” Straton Karemera, 45, said. “What’s more shocking is to see the Congolese government collaborating with militia, instead of protecting its citizens.” For Edison Munyakarambi, the committee president of Kigeme camp, Kinshasa has to ensure that Congolese return home and enjoy their citizenship rights. “Whether the Congo government accepts it or not, we are Congolese,” Munyakarambi, who comes from Masisi, said. “I used to be a leader in Congo; I should not be afraid of living in my country of birth. We are tired of living in refugee camps.”
