Only 17, Esperance Wineza, a refugee from Rwanda, is expecting her second chid. Wineza has been married to a Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia captain for two years. Some FDLR militias participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and it has been blamed for rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A recently concluded anti-FDLR army operation by Rwanda and DRC provided an opportunity for many Rwandan refugees, such as Wineza, to return home. At least 800 civilians and ex-combatants were repatriated two weeks into the operation compared with about 40 per month in 2008, according to the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC). Wineza spoke to IRIN in Bukavu, South Kivu’s provincial capital.
"I have been told that we came to the Congo in 1996 as life was difficult back home in Rwanda after the genocide; I was still a baby then.
"We came with my mother and father from Rwanda, crossing into the Congo through Nyangezi [a town about 25km south of Bukavu]. We then went to live in Masisi [a territory in North Kivu Province with a large FDLR presence].
"Life in the forest in Masisi was very hard especially for the women; we could not access most of the things we needed. It was also difficult getting food and medicine. My mother still has scars on her legs from untreated infections that she got in the forest.
"When we left Rwanda our father was not a soldier but he joined the FDLR in Masisi because he could not find a job. The hardships were too much for him yet he had to take care of us. He rose to the position of corporal in the FDLR.
"I got married to an FDLR captain when I turned 15; we went to the church and had an official ceremony. Not long after I had my first baby and I am expecting my second one in a few weeks.
"Although my father and my husband supported the decision to return home they did not come with us [to the UN Refugee Agency transit site]. They remain in the forest so we had to come by ourselves; most of the high-ranking FDLR stayed in the forest too.
"But I am hopeful that my husband, who I last heard was in Rutshuru [a territory neighbouring Masisi], will join us in Rwanda from there and see our new baby."
aw/mw
A recently concluded anti-FDLR army operation by Rwanda and DRC provided an opportunity for many Rwandan refugees, such as Wineza, to return home. At least 800 civilians and ex-combatants were repatriated two weeks into the operation compared with about 40 per month in 2008, according to the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC). Wineza spoke to IRIN in Bukavu, South Kivu’s provincial capital.
"I have been told that we came to the Congo in 1996 as life was difficult back home in Rwanda after the genocide; I was still a baby then.
"We came with my mother and father from Rwanda, crossing into the Congo through Nyangezi [a town about 25km south of Bukavu]. We then went to live in Masisi [a territory in North Kivu Province with a large FDLR presence].
"Life in the forest in Masisi was very hard especially for the women; we could not access most of the things we needed. It was also difficult getting food and medicine. My mother still has scars on her legs from untreated infections that she got in the forest.
"When we left Rwanda our father was not a soldier but he joined the FDLR in Masisi because he could not find a job. The hardships were too much for him yet he had to take care of us. He rose to the position of corporal in the FDLR.
"I got married to an FDLR captain when I turned 15; we went to the church and had an official ceremony. Not long after I had my first baby and I am expecting my second one in a few weeks.
"Although my father and my husband supported the decision to return home they did not come with us [to the UN Refugee Agency transit site]. They remain in the forest so we had to come by ourselves; most of the high-ranking FDLR stayed in the forest too.
"But I am hopeful that my husband, who I last heard was in Rutshuru [a territory neighbouring Masisi], will join us in Rwanda from there and see our new baby."
aw/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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