1,618 refugees gain entry back home

The 1,618 Congolese-Tutsi refugees who massed at a border crossing between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since mid-last week were taken to a site in the centre of Uvira on Tuesday, despite strong opposition to their return home, South Kivu Province Deputy Governor Didas Kaningingi told IRIN.

"Everything went well," he said from Bukavu, capital of South Kivu. "We have transferred all 1,618 registered refugees without incident and hope that the humanitarian bodies will now take care of them."

Quoting an elderly refugee, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Burundi said 70 percent of the refugees were Congolese Tutsis, while others were from other ethnic groups.

The office reported that DRC authorities had initially denied the refugees entry, citing "a lack of transit facilities in the border area of the DRC to accommodate them". The Congolese troops reportedly said they were acting on the orders of higher authorities when they denied the refugees entry.

Provincial authorities have deployed 5,000 government troops to Uvira, in South Kivu, to head off any protests against the refugees. Last week, non-Tutsi residents of Uvira set up barricades and stoned UN vehicles in disapproval of the planned voluntary return of the refugees. One child was shot dead.

The Burundi UNHCR office reported that in an impromptu meeting of its officials, those from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and representatives of the refugees, the governor of South Kivu Province had said the border post had never been closed, but simply "suspended" due to the heavy presence of the refugees.

"Also, the authorities wanted to verify the refugees and search the baggage of some, pointing out that this occurred at border crossings everywhere in the world," UNHCR reported.

The refugees are a part of the 20,000 to 30,000 people who fled fighting in June between army dissidents, led by Gen Laurent Nkunda and Col Jules Mutebutsi, and loyal government troops of the 10th Military Region. Many refugees fled to Burundi.

Since then, non-Tutsi Uvira residents have been accusing the Congolese Tutsis of having collaborated with the army dissidents. Kaningini said Uvira residents also feared that some of the dissidents, who withdrew from Bukavu, could infiltrate the area by mingling with the returning refugees.

UNHCR Burundi said it had arranged for emergency distribution of plastic sheeting, soap and jerry cans on Monday before the refugees left Burundi.

Humanitarian bodies have also provided the refugees with some initial non-food aid, Jean-Marc Cordaro, the head of the OCHA in Bukavu, said.