Documenting Refugees for peace in DRCongo

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.