In Burundi, Congolese refugees fear starvation and violence
Cape Argus
|May 22, 2025
CLAUDE says he is afraid he will soon be dead - either from starvation or violence — as he waits at a food tent in a camp in Burundi.
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He is one of thousands of Congolese refugees caught between a brutal war over the border and drastic cuts to international food aid.
A former bouncer in a bar in the Congolese town of Uvira, Claude said he fled as violence erupted in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), triggered by the Rwanda-backed M23’s rapid advance through the region.
Armed men “were shooting, killing each other... raping women’, said the 25-year-old. He fled across the border to Burundi in February.
But now he faces a new threat as he watches food rations dwindle in the overcrowded camp in Musenyi.
Hunger is breeding violence, and he has joined a group of volunteers who patrol the camp to stop people stealing the little food available.
Dit verhaal komt uit de May 22, 2025-editie van Cape Argus.
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