CIBITOKE, March 7th (ABP) – The Secretary General of the Burundi Red Cross (BRC), Anselme Katiyunguruza, accompanied by the Head of Delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), from the Kinshasa Cluster, Mercy Laker, paid a working visit on 5 March to the site of Congolese refugees, who have been accommodated since 14 February 2025, in the main town of Rugombo commune, in Cibitoke province.
According to Étienne Ndikuriyo, head of the movement and non-movement strategic partnership and spokesperson for the CRB, the purpose of the visit was to find out about the situation of those Congolese asylum seekers at various sites in Cibitoke province.
They found that there are a large number of refugees, approaching 40,000 people, who are lacking everything and anything, while until now there have been very few people to help those people in difficulty.
The same CRB official pointed out that there are more vulnerable people, including pregnant women, women with babies, children who have dropped out of school, people with special needs, the disabled and others who are in urgent need of shelter, latrines and showers, and food.
The Head of the Cluster Delegation from Kinshasa came to see the situation for herself, so that she could present it to donors and find ways to alleviate the suffering of those Congolese asylum seekers, we were told. The CRB was also the first donor to come to the aid of the Congolese refugees. A water tanker to supply them with drinking water was made available to them without delay, and non-food kits for hygiene and sanitation were provided by the CRB, he said. For him, it is necessary that many resources be allocated to that centre, for food, health, education, hygiene and sanitation. To achieve that, the Head of the Kinshasa Cluster is going to get in touch with various donors in order to find the means to come to the aid of those people,” said Mr Ndikuriyo.
During that visit, the Burundi Red Cross provided household kits for 1,000 households, including 800 households at the Rugombo site and 200 households at the Cibitoke site. The kits consisted of soap, tarpaulins, mats, kitchen utensils, blankets and other items, as seen on site.