Meeting with refugee leaders in Kalemie City, Tanganyika Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday June 5th, 2025
COJESKI/DRCongo, Coordination of North Kivu which spearheads refugee activities in DRC is working in partnership with the Civil Society in Tanganyika to advocate for the well-being of refugees and others forced migrants.
In our efforts to make refugee in DRC visible we have managed to engage with refugee leaders in Kalemie, in most cases they do know each other, they have no meeting point, they are not known by the community, they are not known by the government but they do exist. Kalemie itself and Tanganyika Province is one among the places which are less known in DRC, it has no famous politicians, no famous footballer, no famous musician, no famous businessman. The province produces only a type of fish called Mikeke and Dangala which is consumed in some parts of Eastern DRCongo but still they are called the name of Uvira.
This came after also exchanging with UNHCR Protection Team in Kalemie, and representatives from the DRC Government on the issue of the well-being of refugees in this province. Surprisingly the narratives are totally different, however what is common is that all refugees in Kalemie are called Burundians, the city hosts refugees from Burundi, Rwanda, and Somalia but all of them are called Burundians. Nowhere in DRCongo you will get information about these refugees, no one has ever conducted a research work about these refugees, they are just among those people highly forgotten in the world.
BRIEFING ON OUR MEETING WITH REFUGEE LEADERS IN TANGANYIKA
Today, Thursday, June 5, 2025, SOCICO Tanganyika organized a meeting with 10 refugee leaders, including 4 women and 6 men. The meeting began at 9:30 a.m. in the CNDH Meeting Room.
The objective was to understand refugee issues in relation to World Refugee Day, as well as to present SOCICO’s activities.
Agenda
Personal Introduction,
Presentation of SOCICO Tanganyika,
Refugee Issues in Tanganyika,
Miscellaneous: Speech by the CNDH Coordinator, and World Refugee Day on June 20.
First Point
Each person had time to introduce themselves. Generally, the participants were all Burundian refugees. We will also invite Rwandan refugees and others to the next meeting. Pecos and Hawa represented SOCICO Tanganyika, and the CNDH represented the Provincial Coordinator.
Second Point
Pecos briefly presented the laws governing refugees, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, the African Union Convention, and the Congolese law of 2002. He also noted that the DRC has the National Commission for Refugees (CNR), the UNHCR, several humanitarian organizations, and civil societies, which can help improve the situation of refugees.
SOCICO focuses on monitoring, advocacy/awareness-raising, and the mobilization of humanitarian aid.
Third Point
Some estimates put the number of refugees at 6,000 in Tanganyika province, but participants disputed this, saying that some asylum seekers have difficulty reporting to the UNHCR, others have not been verified, and others are in hiding, especially Rwandans who are afraid.
Refugee Documents: Participants noted that asylum seekers can spend a year without documents and during this time some are deported by the immigration back to their countries where their lives are at risk, once arrested by the Police.
There is a belief that Rwandan refugees are no longer entitled to refugee status in the DRC, so many are living here illegally. It takes a long time to obtain refugee status, and there are difficulties accessing the UNHCR office, as well as the fear of some UNHCR officials suspected of belonging to the refugees’ country of origin. Refugee documents, or the Refugee Card, are not recognized by local authorities. Refugees live in insecurity due to the risk of being arrested by the police. Refugees are considered Burundian migrants and face stereotypes of “Burundians” as meaning less value of inferior to the Congolese people.
The National Council of Nationals (CNR) took the refugees’ documents during the verification process, and to date, the CNR has not returned them. The refugees are denied humanitarian assistance such as housing, food, medical care, education, and freedom of movement.
Although the participants appreciated their peaceful coexistence with the local population, it was observed that the local population does not know who is a refugee and how to help them, so those who do not speak the local Kishwahili language are quickly marginalized.
It was observed that the UNHCR and the National Council of Refugees consider all refugees to be urban refugees, and unfortunately, there has been little thought given to this measure and its implications and consequences. Those who want to be in the camp are asked to go to Baraka in South Kivu. At the Kalemie General Hospital, the UNHCR does not provide enough funding for refugee medical care. Refugees here do not have access to a Refugee Travel Document or Passport, nor do they have access to resettlement to a third country that does not exist.
The lack of assistance is perceived as measures put in place by UNHCR in order to force refugees to accept the repatriation option which is the only activity UNHCR is offering to them.
Fourth Point
The Provincial Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission spoke with the participants and encouraged them to share with him the violations of their rights for advocacy purposes. SOCICO Tanganyika will continue to increase opportunities for dialogue with all segments of the refugee population in Tanganyika and share their concerns with partners and authorities to ensure effective care.
The refugees expressed their concern and fear that SOCICO stakeholders would risk being compromised or corrupted by the UNHCR and would no longer advocate for the refugee cause. Several questions also centered on our past activities, our relationships with the UNHCR, AIDES, and CNR, as well as the funding of our activities.
We presented the idea of Dialogue with several stakeholders on the sidelines of World Refugee Day, and the participants expressed their willingness to share their experiences and challenges.
After this meeting, SOCICO will meet to define future actions and gather other necessary information.
The meeting ended at 11:30 a.m.
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