532 Rwandan refugees return home from DRC following voluntary repatriation agreement
As of May 2023, more than 208,000 Rwandan refugees were hosted in the DRC, while an estimated 81,000 Congolese refugees lived in Rwanda.
A total of 532 Rwandans have returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), crossing the Grande Barrière border post in Rubavu District on Monday, August 25, 2025.
The repatriation follows a high-level meeting on voluntary refugee returns held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June, which brought together officials from Rwanda, the DRC, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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The resolution adopted at the meeting required that refugees from each country living in the other be repatriated. The returnees will now be transported to the Nyarushishi Transit Centre in Rusizi District.
During the high-level meeting, both the Rwanda and DRC governments reaffirmed their commitment to creating conditions conducive to the sustainable return and reintegration of refugees.
“The Government of Rwanda has implemented several policies that would lead to the creation of a conducive environment for the socio-economic integration of Rwandese refugees returning home from the DRC,” Rwanda’s Permanent Secretary for the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management, Philippe Habinshuti, said.
“We stand ready to work hard with concerned stakeholders to receive and effectively reintegrate returnees in the country, but we need more support to ensure the sustainability of these returns.”
As of May 2023, more than 208,000 Rwandan refugees were hosted in the DRC, while an estimated 81,000 Congolese refugees lived in Rwanda. The stakeholders observed that key challenges to ensuring safe and dignified returns include security conditions, documentation, and access to land and property.
Recommendations agreed upon at the end of the meeting included enhancing information sharing between the two countries on conditions in areas of return, clarifying the levels of assistance available to returnees and creating opportunities for cross-border visits to enable refugees to make informed decisions about returning home.
The group joins 1,156 Rwandans who had returned earlier this year after spending years in eastern DRC, where they had fled during past conflicts. At the beginning of 2025, plans had been made to repatriate over 2,000 more individuals who had already been gathered in the city of Goma.
Most of the returnees told the media that they came back voluntarily, without any form of coercion. Others explained that while in the forests of Congo, they had been held by armed groups, including factions composed of individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Those arriving at different times are temporarily hosted at the Kijote Transit Camp in Bigogwe Sector, Nyabihu District. There, they undergo screening and provide information about where their families are located, helping authorities prepare them for reintegration into normal life through Rwanda’s national reintegration programmes.
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