Report on the meeting on the situation of refugees in DRCongo
cojeskiReport of the first meeting on the situation of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo held on November 5th, 2025.
As planned we held our meeting which focused on the situation of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this is part of our efforts to break the conspiracy of silence towards refugees in DRC. In the absence of available opportunities where we can share information and ideas about refugees, we have created our own platforms.
The meeting focused on general information about refugees in DRC, who they are, how many are they, where do they live, how do they survive, the legal framework, and institutions working on refugees.
As a reminder, the Democratic Republic of Congo hosts refugees and asylum seekers from various countries mainly: Angola, Congo-Brazaville, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Tchad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi among others. The exact number of refugees in DRC is not known yet, much as UNHCR has a very limited and small number of 527,000 there are thousands of refugees and asylum seekers who are not yet known by UNHCR. We estimate refugees at 4 million in DRC both children, women, young people, men and elderly people.
A question was asked why are they not known: We observed that there are no clear programme to focus on the identification of refugees, and it seems this does not attract the attention of no one. But even the real statistics of the Congolese people are not known, so this is national issue which should be addressed. However the lack of clear statistics on refugees in DRC has been politically exploited by the Government of Rwanda in order to tag all Rwandan refugees in DRC as enemies and armed against Rwanda.
Refugees live alongside with various host communities, some refugees have recognized camps or settlements others do not have, and this has been among the reasons of community conflicts and tensions because refugees are accused of using host communities identities in order to survive. Refugees are involved in various small livelihoods activities at the community level but also enjoy the solidarity of the host communities in order to access land for agricultural activities.
The current refugee law of 2002 in DRC is part of the problems which we must fix and has been more used as a political tool in order to abuse refugees rights rather than been an instrument to protect refugees. The law looks at refugees as problem to deal with rather than as victims to protect. We are advocating for a new refugee law in DRC currently.
Two institutions are responsible for refugees mainly the National Commission for Refugees known as CNR and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), unfortunately these two institutions are highly politicized and do actor generally against the protection of refugees.
We also exposed on what we are doing in order to promote the protection of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo such as:
Creating spaces for exchanges about refugees in DRC and in this way two meetings have been created online: The first focusing on Congolese and refugees and the second focusing of stakeholders and the general public outside DRC.
Urgent relief aid: We are mobilizing relief aid to assist refugees in various difficult situations,
Documenting and highlighting areas which host refugees,
Bringing refugees together in order to constitute a voice which can amplify their aspirations,
Advocating for the reform of the policies and for the involvement of the DRC Government on issues around refugees.
We are also promoting refugee livelihood activities among other activities.
On this a lot was discussed on gaps
We shared with the audience that serious gaps are at each level
International level:
Lack of forums in which refugee issues in DRC can be addressed and discussed, and the absence of debate on the situation of refugees in DRC in various forums where issues about refugees are organized,
No opportunities for funding as it is almost impossible to come across a funding opportunity on the situation of refugees in DRC,
All international missions that visit DRC and Diplomats in DRC do not have refugees in their plans,
No one represents refugees from DRC in forum where issues of refugees are addressed,
National level
The Government is totally absent on issues about refugees and delegates her responsibilities to UNHCR, yet UNHCR claims it cannot play the role of the government,
No national events are organized focusing on the situation of refugees,
The existence of very few actors working on issues of refugees,
A very week institution which focuses on refugees mainly CNR,
At the Community level
Lack of interactions about refugees and high level of ignorance among refugees and among community members on issues around refugees.
Our next session will be on Thursday November 13th, 2025 and will focus on refugees and armed groups which have caused various wars in DRC, mainly Tutsi refugees who started war in DRC since 1996 up to date. Please fix the time in your area, the meeting will start at 7pm time of Kinshasa, 8pm time of Eastern DRC and Kigali, 9pm time of Nairobi.
