Young and old, Congolese refugees in Kigeme and Mahama Camps, woke up to stage peaceful protests with placards condemning the growing anti-Tutsi propaganda propagated by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government.
The protests follow recent anti-Tutsi statements by DRC Army Spokesman, Major-General Sylvain Ekenge, who, during an interview on the national television channel, RTNC, on December 27, 2025, reportedly promoted ethnic conspiracy theories and discriminatory tropes.
For example, in the interview, he cautioned Congolese men against marrying Tutsi women, alleging that such marriages are part of a “scam” or intelligence strategy and suggested that Tutsi women are used to infiltrate Congolese.
He was suspended in late December 2025 following this televised interview that sparked international condemnation for its anti-Tutsi rhetoric.
Condemning President Felix Tshisekedi’s leadership for all this and their current status, the refugees carried placards saying:
“We do not have the joy that others would have to start a new year because we have been denied our rights to our country, living in the misery of exile.”
The protest was motivated by three reasons: denouncing the ethnic discrimination in their own home country, seeking international community support not to remain silent but to stop this discrimination against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, and demanding the right to return to their country.
However, they recognized that even though the AFC/M23 Coalition has captured some areas, they are not ready to return home because security is not guaranteed by the government.
With several pieces of evidence of many Congolese Tutsi people being harassed, kidnapped, and killed, the refugees showed their support for the M23 movement, who have risen up to fight this discrimination.
They said: “The (DRC) government should rise up and fight this discrimination so that we can have rights to our country because we have nowhere else to live.”
These protests are expected to continue tomorrow (January 2) in other refugee camps in Nyabiheke (Gatsibo) Mugombwa (Gisagara) and Kiziba (Karongi).
As of late 2025, Rwanda continued to host a significant population of refugees from the DRC, many of whom have fled due to escalating ethnic violence and the resurgence of armed conflict in eastern DRC.
The total DRC refugee population in Rwanda is approximately 83,797 individuals and they make up about 60.9% of the total forcibly displaced population in Rwanda (which stands at roughly 137,596 including Burundians and others).
