Escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has continued to uproot thousands more people to neighbouring countries where they face dire conditions without many basic necessities, UN humanitarians said on Thursday. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, reported on Thursday that 35,000 Congolese nationals have now reached Burundi since the beginning of February, as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters continue to advance across both South and North Kivu. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) in DRC also expressed concern over growing lawlessness as warlords responsible for grave crimes including rape, were reportedly sprung from prison in Goma, Kabare and Bukavu in recent days. These former detainees are now at large and pose a threat to their former victims and judges who sentenced them, along with the lawyers who represented victims of sexual violence, said Patrice Vahard, Director of the UN Joint Human Rights Office in DR Congo (UNJHRO). “The consequences...

Burundian soldiers, who have been fighting against the M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo, were pulling out following the fall of the city of Bukavu, four sources, including a Burundian army officer and two U.N. officials, said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. M23 seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern Congo, in late January and then took control of South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu on Sunday. “The Burundian troops are withdrawing from Democratic Republic of Congo. A number of trucks filled with military arrived in the country since yesterday” through a border post, the Burundian army officer said. ALSO READ: M23 integrates Congolese government soldiers into its ranks Bukavu city is close to the Burundian border with DR Congo and fighting was reported near Kamanyola border post on Monday and Tuesday. Burundi has had soldiers in eastern Congo for years, initially to hunt down Burundian rebels there...

Burundi faces serious climate and environmental challenges. The biggest is the country’s overdependence on the use of biomass (firewood). The second is outdated agricultural practices that have led to deforestation. In turn this has increased the country’s vulnerability to climate shocks. A landlocked country on the north-eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, Burundi is extremely poor, with 76% of the population living below the poverty line (US$2.15 per day) in 2023. It is also ranked the 22nd most vulnerable to climate change in the world. Burundi produces very little CO₂ (less than 0.02% of global greenhouse gas emissions). Its challenge is therefore less about reducing greenhouse gases and more about managing its vulnerability to climate change. The excessive use of biomass and deforestation make it more vulnerable to extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. Burundi has a history of extreme events that are considered climate-related. It has experienced severe...

DR Congo citizens on Monday, February 17, took to the streets in a wave of fresh protests demanding the immediate withdrawal of foreign military forces, including MONUSCO, the Burundi National Defence Forces (FNDB), and the SAMIDRC troops. The demonstrators, who flocked the streets of Goma – the provincial capital of North Kivu – say that the continued presence of these troops is exacerbating insecurity rather than curbing the vice and protecting innocent civilians. Hundreds of protestors were seen on the streets of Goma – recently captured by the M23 – chanting slogans and holding banners inscribed in French and Swahili that called for the departure of foreign forces. ALSO READ: M23 rebels capture Bukavu in latest advance Some messages read: “Tatizo letu litatatuliwa na sisi Wacongomani wenyewe” – which lossely translates to “Our problem will be solved by us Congolese ourselves.” Protestors argue that instead of ensuring stability, the military...

There have been hundreds of arrests of Rwandans and Congolese Banyamulenge in the Burundian capital Bujumbura and its suburbs on Sunday, February 16, according to reports. The arrests follow President Ndayishimiye’s call to members of the Imbonerakure and the general population to prepare for what he called an imminent attack by Rwanda. ALSO READ: Mass arrests of Banyamulenge in Burundi spark urgent appeals for intervention In Bujumbura, the arrested individuals were transported in military trucks to Gihanga and Bubanza provinces for “screening.” Arrests were reported in Cibitoke and Buterere, where Rwandan and Congolese young men were bundled in police trucks with no explanation for the raids. Ndayishimiye, whose soldiers fight alongside the Congolese army in the war against the M23 in eastern DR Congo, tweeted about the alleged imminent attack by Rwanda on Sunday, hours after the rebels took control of Bukavu city. The Congolese city of Bukavu is at...

Pastor Theoneste Ngirinshuti, 53, a resident of Rusizi District, looked beat, but so happy to have made it back home in one piece, on Sunday, February 16, when The New Times bumped into him shortly after he cleared with immigration at Rusizi 1 Border Post. ALSO READ: M23 rebels capture Bukavu in latest advance It was at about 09:25a.m, shortly after the first AFC/M23 troops showed up at the Rwanda side of the border post. According to his account, he got stuck in Bukavu, the capital of DR Congo’s North Kivu Province, soon after the city was engulfed in chaotic scenes of looting and other forms of criminal activity that started on Friday, February 14. ALSO READ: Bukavu business community urges M23 to quickly secure city, halt criminal activity It all started when the 53-year-old resident of resident of Karambo Village, Cyangugu Cell, Kamembe Sector, in Rusizi District, set off...