Memorial of the Genocide against refugees in DRC

Preparations for the commemoration of the Genocide against refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Background information

We observed a high level of discrimination against refugees in the Democratic especially millions of refugees who were massacred since 1994 up today. At all levels mainly community, local, provincial and national levels there have been efforts to recognize all those who were massacred though the identification of the sites of massacre and building Monuments which contains names of those who were killed, however there is nothing at all about refugees who were massacred in the whole DRCongo.

Why this important

Recognizing massacre against refugees in DRCongo will play a significant role in the whole protection process of refugees, this will help the country to review her dark history and evaluate her approach towards the protection of refugees. More this is one among the strategies that can be used to advance the efforts towards the protection of refugees in DRC and at the same time to seek for accountability from various stakeholders.

Awareness among refugees

We have managed to hold two information sessions on the massacres of refugees in DRC, the first one focused on the causes of the death of millions of refugees in 1994 as they entered Congo territory from Rwanda. In this meeting survivors witnessed and shared with others different versions which we did not know about the millions of deaths. Officially we were informed by relief aid workers that refugees died of Cholera and other diseases, however in the information session we were informed also that millions of refugees died of food poising and other consequences related to what they were given in terms of food. This raised debate exactly how comes refugees died of Cholera as it was said but people in the host communities did not die of the same Cholera. This indicated that since 1994 up to now Hutu refugees have been targeted because they are just Rwandan Hutus in DRCongo.

The second information session focused on the attacks against refugee camps especially Hutu Refugee Camps. Again here officially we were told that these camps were attacked because it was believed armed groups were hiding there. The survivors have strongly contested this narrative. First of all there were two types of camps: The military Camps and the civilians Camp and these were clear and totally different, so anyone knew which camp had armed people and which camp had civilians. Secondly camps were attacked without any resistance and without no one to protect people, and those who died in various refugees camps were mainly civilians, in most cases those who could manage to run were able to disappear before the camps were attacked. Surprisingly there was no humanitarian agent who was attacked in the camps because they were informed before.

In order to understand this history very well and help our audience to know more about the situation, we shall create more spaces for people to interact freely and their situation should be inclusive in the national preparations.

In order to ensure refugees are included we have now advocated to spearhead the civil society events towards the Commemoration of the Genocide in DRCongo. Please support us financially and together we can advance the protection of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.