Refugee Rights Congo, Democratic Republic of the Project #57653

Documenting Refugees for peace in DRCongo

by Collective of Youth Organizations for Solidarity in DRCongo (COJESKI/DRC, Coordination of North Kivu

Project Report | May 2, 2025
20,000 refugees identified in Kivu in three years

By Kulihoshi M | Provincial Coordinator of North Kivu

Our officer is getting basic information

Congratulation for your support: Now we begin a new era in the protection of refugees in DRCongo.

In North Kivu: 13,000 refugees already identified before the war, currently we do not know where they are hiding from,

In South Kivu: 7,000 refugees identified already among them 4,000 already submitted to the National Refugee Commission. Before us all these refugees were not known that they do exist, thanks for your support to us.

The protection of refugees will restore peace at 60% in the Democratic Republic of Congo and therefore provide opportunities for development. This is what we are doing and we are so happy that you believed in us, we are now on the right truck towards this goal of changing the narrative of refugees in DRCongo.

As we started this journey to promote refugee protection in the Democratic Republic of Congo through documentation, we have enjoyed your support and thank you so much because now we have achieved our first step. In DRC we identified the following partners Congolese National Commission for Refugees (CNR), the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), refugees and the host communities.

We received a support quickly from refugees wo even up to now they are willing to be granted documents in order to benefit from the international protection and with support, we are pleased to report that since 2020 up to December 2024 we have managed to identify 13,000 new refugees who have never been in contact with UNHCR and who were not known as refugees.

In the process we witnessed resistance from both UNHCR and CNR who did not want refugees to be identified and to be recognized as refugees, generally UNHCR and CNR opposed us because of political interests. We faced threats, intemidations and arbitrary arrests in which UNHCR gave money to security services to arrest us so that we can abandon this activity. We engaged various actors through an aggressive advocacy and as results CNR is making changes of its officers and UNHCR also changed her officers and brought news who could support our activities, as per now UNHCR does no longer deny the existence of millions of refugees who are not identified in DRC, this recognition is the biggining of another advocacy campaign, the DRC Government also recognized that there are millions of refugees who do not have documents.

At the Congolese host communities, we also received a lot support as members of the communities shared with us everything including information. And as per the community is willing to participate the protection of refugees.

Now we begin e new chapter of identifying refugees and taking them to the Congolese National Commission (CNR) for proper management and documentation. As per now with the changes in CNR, there is not challenges anymore, we are waiting for the end of this war in eastern DRC in order to amplify our activities, so far the identification process is continuing in areas that still under the DRC Government.

Here are the next activities now

Mobilization of funds: This project needs enough funding and we are looking for actors who can help us to mobilize the necessary money we want,

Research and Advocacy: We need to carry research in various places in order to identify more refugees, we also need to advocate for various issues such as policies and access to services,

Registration: Refugees who are in contact with us should be registered by us and then taken to CNR for documentation, sometimes CNR officers are very far from the areas where refugees are and may need to be supported to move,

Refugee Camps: Once they are registered than specific places should be allocated for them to stay and start a new life,

Engaging humanitarian actors for relief aid.

Briefing refugees at the offices in Uvira

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Jan 6, 2025
Very soon we shall end the criminalization of refugees and claim their full protection

By Kulihoshi M | Provincial Coordinator of North Kivu

Advocating for the closure of the Refugee Transit Center in Goma, North Kivu the Democratic Republic of Congo

Another step forward in our struggle for the protection of Rwandan Refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this is the current advocacy to close the CCLK Refugee Transit Center located in Kyeshero, Goma Division, and North Kivu. This center is the only one in the world where refugees are stored before they are sent to Rwanda, and remember the Democratic Republic of Congo is the only country that sends refugees back to Rwanda in the world despite all evidences about the risks which they face once in Rwanda, including military recruitment.

In December 2024 we embarked on a three weeks field work in order to understand how things are operated in this center, we went to the center but we were denied entry, we held meetings with local leaders and key refugees on how best we can advocate for its closure. And lastly we published our findings in social media and in our website which attracted the reactions of decision makers up to the national level. In the process UNHCR together with CNR started threats and intimidations, and quickly they called for a meeting in which various security services were invited and this alone helped so many actors to get informed about this center. Efforts are being made to have it closed and that is our objective. Once that center is closed then we shall end completely the forced repatriation of Rwandan refugees and the promote their full identification, advocate for well- known refugees camps and put in place relief towards them as part of their international protection which they lost over the years.

Estimated number of Rwandan refugees in DRC

The exact number of Rwandan refugees in DRC is not known because they have never been identified, but we estimate that they may be more than 4million people in the whole country. However Rwanda calls them negative forces and should be repatriated even by force a perception which is not true as most of them are young people born in DRC, women and elderly people who are not a threat to Rwanda.

Challenges

In order to promote the protection of Rwandan refugees in DRCongo we are facing three major challenges,

Lack of funding: For the last two years we have not been able to raise funds for refugees because they are not known, in most cases many people have never heard about refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, yet they are there,

Lack of support from UNHCR: Instead of working towards the protection of refugees especially Rwandan refugees, UNHCR has been part of the criminalization policy of refugees and up to now UNHCR believes that the only solution towards these refugees is to send them back to Rwanda, and this has been done despite the information available that they do not often stay in Rwanda,

Wars and insecurity: Generally North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces where live a big number of Rwandan refugees are often times targeted by Rwanda security services and wars backed by Rwanda which renders to difficult our efforts towards the protection of refugees,

Conclusion

We still hold on our conviction that DRC has better opportunities which favor the protection of refugees and these opportunities should be capitalized, that is why we are here seeking for your support in order to do so.

Thanks

The power of information about refugees

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Sep 16, 2024
Here is the solution to refugees and DRCongo

By Kulihoshi M | Provincial Coordinator of North Kivu

Information on the situation of refugees in DRC

We keep on pushing Refugee Identification in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This is one among the lasting solution to refugee crisis in DRCongo and one among the solution to the current tensions between DRC and Rwanda and one among the solutions to inthnic conflicts which have claimed millions of lives, yet this project has not yet received the necessary funds we want in order to accomplish this dream. But we still have hope and we shall push for it through the years.

We have so far helped refugees and asylum seekers to stay in DRC territory despite the documentation challenges they have, we remain happy that through our regular work of various forms of advocacy focusing on local leaders, the security services, government authorities and actors of the civil society, the situation of refugees is generally stable and they are not arrested because of not having the necessary documents.

However there are risks as we can observe here bellow

At this particular time, recently more than 30 Asylum seekers were deported from Goma back to Rwanda because they did not have documents, we engaged the Mayor of Goma and per deportation operations have stopped, however it was possible to avoid this and to save the lives of those asylum seekers who are already victims if we have the necessary finding.

For the last three a refugee Community Leader in Goma has been waiting for her Conventional Travel Document (CTD) because she was supposed to travel to Addis Ababa for workshop bringing together refugee women in Africa, she has not yet gotten the CTD up to now and she is going to miss this great meeting, yet this could have been the very first time in history a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo could have participated in international activity like this at continental level, despite our efforts to lobby for opportunities which should benefit refugees we are facing these challenges which should be addressed through a strong advocacy in case we have funds.

On Friday September 13^th, 2024 during the Cabinet Meeting the President of DRC instructed the Minister of Internal Affairs to identify all people residing in DRC including all foreigners right from the local levels in order to know those who pose security risks, this will expose refugees who do not have documents, it is also a better opportunity rights to engage in advocacy in case we get the necessary funds.

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