Jamaique Badibanga (18), "I have nowhere to go"

"My name is Jamaïque Badibanga. I am 18 years old and from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am an orphan, and for six years now I have been living as a refugee in CAR [Central African Republic].

"My father was an officer in the Congolese army. We used to live in the province of Kasai, but then my father was transferred to the capital, Kinshasa. Later he was posted to the province of Equateur.

"That is when ‘the war of Jean-Pierre Bemba’ arrived. As the fighting was very violent, my father made me, my mother and my older sister evacuate to the north of the country and told us to cross the border into CAR and wait for him there.

"We waited for him for months. Then one day, some people arrived from DRC and told us that my father had been accused of treason by [now President Joseph] Kabila’s people because Bemba’s troops had entered the city where he was posted. He was found guilty and publicly hanged. A few days later, my sister and I were taken to the body of our mother; unable to bear the loss of our father, she had committed suicide.

"At the time, I was 12 and my sister 14. The UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] stepped in to take care of us. Then one day, a Nigerian man travelling on business arrived and fell in love with my sister. They left to get married and live in Lagos. My sister promised she would come back to get me. That was three years ago and I haven’t heard from her since.

"In the meantime, I was moved to a camp for Congolese refugees called Molangue, where I still live today. I’m completely alone here and survive only thanks to the assistance of UNHCR, which provides me with food and an education. Nobody else helps me at the camp. Life is very hard, and I always feel in danger.

"Repatriation efforts have just restarted [they were interrupted during the time of the election in DRC], but I don’t know what to do. I don’t wish to stay in CAR, but I have nowhere to go in DRC, either. My family moved around so much that I don’t even know where I really come from. I don’t have any family left there.

"I still hope that my sister will one day pick me up. A friend of mine found renewed life that way and I hope it will happen to me. But I don’t know how to find my sister - I have no address, no news. Actually, my sister is my only hope.

"UNHCR gave me a scholarship to go on with my studies. My dream is to become a doctor. I pray to God to give me this privilege."

ail/jb/mw