Documenting Refugees for peace in DRCongo

I’m Hakizimana Vedatse, a refugee from Rwanda living in the Democratic Republic of Congo now surviving because of the refugee document which we helped him to acquire.  

Hakizimana, one among refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for more than 30 years he could not move out of the city because he did not have the Refugee Identification Card.

During the genocide in Rwanda, I was 6 years old when we crossed into DRC, shortly in 1996 my both parents were killed when the Rwandan Army destroyed and burnt our Camp in Kivu. I managed to survive I do not know how, by then I was 8 years old. Surprisingly a Catholic Nun took me and placed me in a Congolese family where I grew up but also at certain point we separated with this family because of the war but I was already old. This family helped to study and reached senior six but I did not complete senior six.

One Day Vedaste contacted one of field volunteers who are always in different communities and shared his background, and then after collecting all the necessary information and getting in contact with people he said he lived with which took four (4) months of work, we then introduced Vedaste to the Congolese National Commission for Refugees which at first refused to register him, then we had to bring in a lawyer and then Vedaste was granted a refugee status.

This is some few words from Vedaste (I have lived in DRC since 1994 without document that shows that I’m a refugee from Rwanda, and I failed to acquire the Congolese Voter’s Card, so I have been limited in terms of movement, here in DRC you cannot move out of the city without a valid document, that is why I have never left this city. But now with my refugee document I’m free to move anywhere and in case I have a security problem I know people I will contact who helped me. I’m now working hard to get some money in order to start trading far especially in Mining Sector where I can get a lot of money. At least me, I’m safe now, but there are so many Rwandan and Burundian refugees in this city who do not have documents and are also affected, so please help them also.