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At least 209 Burundian refugees were repatriated to their country Wednesday from a camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), according to the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR).
The refugees from the Lusenda camp in Fizi territory, South Kivu province, are part of 15,000 Burundian refugees who registered seeking voluntary return, said the UNHCR.
The refugees were transported on more than one dozen trucks through the Burundi-DR Congo Gatumba border where they were handed over to officials of Burundi's Directorate General for Repatriation, Reintegration and Resettlement.
The voluntary returnees will travel through the center of Gihanga, 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the border, where they will spend two days receiving resettlement packages before their social reintegration.
"The government of Burundi is well prepared to welcome its citizens. In November 2021, we carried out an awareness-raising campaign in Lusenda and Mulongwe Burundian refugee camps. We saw that they are eager to return to their homeland," said Nestor Bimenyimana, Burundi's repatriation and reintegration official.
The refugees fled in 2015 amid political turmoil which deprived them of peace, security and stability in the central African nation.
Violence in Burundi has since significantly decreased following the death in 2020 of President Pierre Nkurunziza and the election of President Evariste Ndayishimiye. -
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