Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - More than 4,000 Burundian refugees have been welcomed in Uvira area in recent days, according to what was stated by the Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uvira is located in South Kivu, in eastern DRC, and overlooks lake Tanganyika. The capital of Burundi is located about 15 km from the Congolese city. The Burundians have fled their country for fear that the crisis caused by the protests against the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza, could escalate into a wave of violence, or worse, into a new civil war.
Mgr. Sébastien Muyengo held a meeting with the diocesan Caritas to find ways to help the refugees and called on the population to take charge of the new arrivals. According to a note sent to Fides by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 7,000 Burundian asylum-seekers in the territories of Uvira and Fizi in South-Kivu. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 05/05/2015)
