Lusenda : Burundian refugees threatened by hunger and insecurity

More than 26,000 Burundian refugees living in the Lusenda camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing an alarming humanitarian crisis. For more than three months, they have not received any food aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), exposing them to growing famine.
INFO SOS Médias Burundi
Families say they are on the verge of despair.
Refugees, deprived of food and livelihoods, are sounding the alarm. Bizimana E., a mother of 11 children, describes her family’s distress : « Today, my children depend on me, but I have no money to feed them. We are asking the UNHCR to come to our aid. »
In the same camp, Béatrice M., a mother of six, recounts her ordeal : « I go begging in the Congolese community to feed my children. Because of the insecurity, we can no longer go and farm where we used to. My children eat only once a day, and sometimes they go all night without eating. »
This distress is exacerbated by the worsening security situation in the region. Refugees who tried to farm to survive find themselves trapped in the violence shaking the eastern part of the country.
A camp caught between famine and insecurity
The Lusenda camp is located in an unstable area, where fighting between armed groups is raging. Insecurity prevents refugees from accessing farmland and providing for their needs.
« Behind the camp, the bullets continue to ring out. If you go to work in the countryside, you encounter armed men who chase you, steal your money and your phones, » says a refugee, exhausted by fear and lack of resources.
The last food stocks provided at the end of 2024 are now depleted. With the occupation of Goma and Bukavu by the M23 rebels, humanitarian workers have been forced to flee, leaving the Lusenda and Mulongwe camps, two camps housing Burundian refugees, without assistance.
A call for international aid
Local authorities, notably the National Refugee Commission, attribute the lack of humanitarian aid to several factors : growing insecurity, which is preventing humanitarian convoys from reaching the camp, and the closure of banks in the South Kivu region, complicating funding and aid distribution.
Faced with this situation, refugees are calling for urgent intervention from the UNHCR and humanitarian organizations to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
The future of thousands of Burundian refugees in the DRC remains uncertain, as hunger and fear take hold in the Lusenda camp.