Landmark convoy takes almost 300 Congolese home from Burundi

GASORWE, Burundi (UNHCR) - A landmark convoy carrying some Congolese 300 refugees arrived Monday in the border town of Uvira in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after setting out from Gasorwe refugee camp in northern Burundi earlier in the day.

It was the first UNHCR convoy to repatriate Congolese refugees from Burundi. All of the 282 people returning on the convoy are from Uvira and its surroundings. The returnees were to spend the night at the transit centre set up in Uvira by UNHCR.

On Wednesday, UNHCR will transport the returnees to their homes. Upon arrival, the returning refugees will receive basic assistance packages including household items, plastic sheeting, blankets and a three-month food ration. This assistance aims to address their immediate needs while they begin to rebuild.

Among the returnees was 36-year-old Sumaili Mahonesho, who said on the eve of her departure from Gasorwe that she had been dreaming of going back home for the past four years. "I have stayed in this camp for long enough. The only thing I did here was to wait for the monthly food ration. Since the situation has improved, it is time to return to Uvira," she said.

Sumaili, who is from Uvira, fled fighting between government forces and the Mai Mai militia. She left with two of her six children, but has heard that the others are safe and with an aunt.

Her 12-year-old son Espoir said he was looking forward to seeing his old friends and started reciting their names. In Burundi, he studied in the primary school of the camp, but he always wanted to go back home.

Tuesday's start of organised repatriation from Burundi marks the opening of the fifth return corridor to the DRC. The UN refugee agency began the repatriation of Congolese refugees in October 2004, first from the Central African Republic, then successively from the Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Sudan.

Since July, more than 1,000 Congolese refugees in Burundi have registered for voluntary repatriation. A second convoy from Burundi is scheduled on October 17, before UNHCR cross-border repatriation movements are suspended from October 21 until November 6 because of safety concerns during the second round of the DRC presidential election. The convoys are expected to resume soon after.

The majority of Congolese refugees in Burundi fled from the DRC's South Kivu province. Others came from the more distant provinces of Katanga and Maniema. Most of them fled to Burundi during the 1998 fighting between the government and rebel forces. Since then, some smaller groups have arrived sporadically in Burundi, fleeing long-term insecurity and instability in the DRC.

Of the estimated 24,500 Congolese refugees in Burundi, some 11,000 are living in Gasorwe and Gihinga refugee camps, while the rest are scattered in urban areas. In all, there are still more than 420,000 Congolese refugees in various countries of asylum.

By Catherine-Lune Grayson in Gasorwe, Burundi