TITLE:
Congolese Refugees in Burundi: Challenges and Future Prospects
AUTHORS:
Pamphile Mpabansi
KEYWORDS:
Refugee Camp, Durable Solutions, Resettlement, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.4,
April
20,
2023
ABSTRACT: Our research aims to analyze
the way in which Congolese refugees in Burundi live on a daily basis and
apprehend solutions to their situation of exile. Burundi began to welcome
refugees during the colonial period in 1959. These were Rwandan refugees who
fled the massacres in their country. Since then, the reception of refugees has
never ceased and Burundi currently has 84,961 refugees, most of whom come from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the largest number of people
received if we look at the area of Burundi and its population. These refugees
come from the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are fleeing the
insecurity caused by the armed groups that abound there. There are
approximately 120 armed groups in the provinces of North and South Kivu alone.
Since these refugees do not foresee returning home, most of them are looking
towards resettlement. This research is thus devoted to the analysis of the
current life of these refugees and the way they apprehend the durable solutions
recommended to them. At the methodological level, field visits were conducted
in the five refugee camps in Burundi and a total of 90 interviews were carried
out. This sample takes into account gender, social status, degree of
vulnerability and seniority. The analysis of these interviews led to the
understanding that the life in the camps implies many difficulties. This is how
most of them opt for resettlement in developed countries, which they perceive
the only hope for their future.