Rwanda has received 5,101 returnees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between January and October 2025, according to the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA).
Officials said many of the returnees were Rwandans who had long expressed the wish to come home but were prevented by armed groups in eastern Congo, which spread false claims that anyone returning to Rwanda would be killed.
The update was shared Tuesday, Nov. 12, during a visit by government officials to Nyarushishi Transit Camp in Rusizi District, where recently repatriated Rwandans are temporarily hosted. The officials met with the new arrivals and discussed topics including national governance reforms, development opportunities, and the Ndi Umunyarwanda (“I Am Rwandan”) unity program.
Rusizi District Mayor Phanuel Sindayiheba welcomed the returnees, praising their decision to come home. He told them Rwanda had chosen a path of unity, development, and reconciliation, leaving behind the divisions, poverty, and ignorance that once held the country back.
Marie Alice Kayumba Uwera, director general for Unity and Resilience at the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE), said the Ndi Umunyarwanda program was established to remind citizens that their shared identity as Rwandans is stronger than ethnic or regional differences.
“Even though you have come back later than others, what matters is that you are home,” she said. “Now, you must work hard to make up for the time you lost.”
Kayumba Uwera also urged the returnees—many of them women—to encourage others still in the DRC to come back.
“Women have great strength, sometimes without realizing it,” she said. “Many of you made the right decision to return home and convinced your husbands to do the same.”
Gonzage Karagire, MINEMA’s director of refugee affairs, said the repatriation process has been ongoing and will continue.
“This year alone, we have received more than 5,000 Rwandans who have voluntarily returned home,” Karagire said. “As you can see, there are 592 returnees currently in this transit camp.”
Of the 592 people at Nyarushishi Camp, 396 are children and 196 are adults, including 160 women and 36 men, according to MINEMA.
One returnee, Immaculée Mushimiyimana, who came back after 31 years, said she is committed to contributing to national unity after suffering the consequences of division and conflict.
“I only completed three years of primary school,” she said. “It’s painful to be 32 years old and unable to read or write because war forced us to flee every time we tried to study.”
Rwanda continues to encourage citizens still living in refugee camps in neighboring countries to return, assuring them of safety and opportunities to rebuild their lives.
