Day Laborers, Trapped in a Complex War Between M25 Rebels and the DRC, Return Home

Snaking queues of Burundians trapped Uvira on the border between the DRC and Rwanda after the M23-Congo River Alliance (AFC) pushed out Congolese and Burundian military forces and a coalition of militias known as the Wazalendo. Credit: PSnaking queues of Burundians trapped Uvira on the border between the DRC and Rwanda after the M23-Congo River Alliance (AFC) pushed out Congolese and Burundian military forces and a coalition of militias known as the Wazalendo. Credit: Prosper Heri Ngorora/IPS

By Prosper Heri Ngorora
KAMVIVIRA, DRC, Dec 22 2025 (IPS)

Fulgence Ndayizeye, a Burundian bicycle taxi driver who used to cross the Congolese-Burundian border every day to support his family, wanted to return home.

He and more than 500 other Burundians, including women, men, and children, stranded in Uvira on the border between the DRC and Rwanda, were finally allowed to return to their country on Sunday, December 14, 2025, by M23-Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebels after being stuck in the DRC due to an M23 rebel offensive that had taken the town a few days earlier.

According to Human Rights Watch the M23 and Rwandan forces entered Uvira on December 9, 2025, after week-long fighting that pushed out Congolese and Burundian military forces and a coalition of militias known as the Wazalendo.

“We are going home to be reunited with our families. I haven’t eaten for several days because I’ve used up all my money. Being stuck in a country other than my own during a period of war is slowly killing me. I’m delighted to be going home,’’ said Ndayizeye.

This latest incursion contributed to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, December 19 unanimously extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) despite two recent peace accords.

By occupying Uvira, the rebels had blocked all Burundian logistical and military support to the Congolese army. The rebels now control the DRC’s borders with Rwanda, Uganda, and now Burundi.

Since its conquest of Uvira, the armed group had been collecting weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of militiamen, strengthening security in Uvira and its surrounding areas, and transferring Burundians back to their country of origin.

Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations at the United Nations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on December 12, expressed deep concern over the M23’s occupation of Uvira, which significantly increased the risk of regional conflagration.

He said the occupation undermined diplomatic efforts, including the Washington Accord signed on December 4 and the Doha Framework Agreement, where the DRC and the M23 (AFC) signed an agreement on October 14, 2025, to establish a joint ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism.

“The recent developments in South Kivu (Province) undeniably illustrate the gap existing between diplomatic efforts and the reality experienced by civilians affected by persistent hostilities,” he told a Security Council meeting on December 12.

“While recent diplomatic progress has generated genuine hope, persistent ceasefire violations and the resumption of hostilities pose a real risk of the collapse of ongoing diplomatic efforts. The growing gap between political commitments and their effective implementation on the ground undermines the credibility of peace processes, weakens trust among the parties and fuels the sense of abandonment felt by civilians without concrete and immediate measures to ensure compliance with agreed commitments.”

He warned that conflict dynamics may close the door to dialogue.

On Friday, December 19, Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont, the penholder for Resolution 2808 (2025), which extends the MONUSCO’s mandate until December 2026, said, “In light of the gravity and the urgent nature of the situation, and following this resolution, France calls upon all parties to honor their commitments for the achievement of a lasting peace in the east of the DRC and in the Great Lakes region.”

The United States urged M23 supported by the “Rwanda Defense Forces,” to comply with the Doha framework and withdraw at least 75 km from Uvira.

Jennifer Locetta, Ambassador and Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs representing the United States, said negotiations were “yet again disrupted” by M23 advances “supported by the Rwanda Defense Forces” and urged the group to comply with its commitments under the Doha framework.

“M23 must immediately withdraw at least 75km from Uvira and return to compliance with all of its obligations undertaken in the Framework Agreement.”

For the stranded Burundians, mostly laborers who survive on their daily wages and who regularly cross the border at Kamvivira between the DRC and Burundi to work in the DRC it was a relief to be able to return home.

Their situation took a worrying turn in early December 2025 when armed violence intensified in the Ruzizi plain in South Kivu following fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 on the one hand and between pro-Kinshasa militiamen and the Congolese army on the other.

The M23 rebels say they were responding to attacks by the Congolese army on their positions and densely populated areas, while the Congolese army accused the armed group of violating all peace agreements aimed at stopping the fighting in the east of the country.

“The Washington agreements do not concern us in any way. It is a matter between two states, the DRC and Rwanda. We, as the M23, are Congolese and we have legitimate demands that are being discussed in Doha, Qatar, with delegates from Kinshasa,” says Bertrand Bisimwa, political leader of the M23-AFC political-military coalition.

According to the UN, recent fighting has caused more than 84,000 people to flee to Burundi since the beginning of December. This brings the total number of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers in Burundi to more than 200,000.

“Local resources are overwhelmed. Transit centers and informal sites, where new arrivals are being received, have greatly exceeded their capacity, in some cases by nearly 200 percent, leaving hundreds of families in untenable conditions,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson of the UN said in a media briefing on December 19, 2025, in New York.

He stressed that UNHCR is seeking USD 47 million over the next four months to assist 500,000 internally displaced persons in the DRC and nearly 166,000 refugees in Burundi, Rwanda, and other neighboring countries where Congolese men, women, and children have sought refuge.

As the security situation worsened in the town of Uvira, in South Kivu province in eastern DRC, day workers found themselves trapped at the border between the DRC and Burundi.

The M23-AFC political-military group organized a repatriation operation for the civilians on Sunday, December 14, 2025, despite Burundi’s official closure of the border.

“At AFC-M23, we encourage the free movement of people and their property. This is one of our priority policies. We call on the Burundian government to open the border and allow people to move freely. We have no problem with the Burundian people,’’ claimed Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the M23-AFC military coalition, asserting that his group did not close the border. According to him, the closure of the border was the “unilateral” action of the Burundian government.

Impatient, the Burundians gathered near the border every day, under heavy security from the AFC-M23, in the ultimate hope of seeing the border opened so they could return to their country of origin.

Burundi is a key ally of the Congolese government in the fight against M23 fighters, who, according to several UN and US reports, are supported by Rwanda. Rwanda and the M23-AFC dismiss these accusations as unfounded.

For Rwanda and the M23, the crisis shaking the eastern part of the DRC is primarily between Congolese and therefore requires Congolese solutions.

In peacetime the town of Uvira survives thanks to economic exchanges with Gatumba, a Burundian town located about six kilometers away.

With the capture of Uvira, the Burundian government closed its border with the DRC for security reasons, while the rebels claim to have no “territorial claims” on Burundi, describing it as a “brother country” and “eternal neighbor” of the DRC.

“When the fighting broke out here, I tried to come to the border. I was told that the border was closed. I have been here at the border for four days waiting to cross into our country. My bosses have fled and I have no job. There is no reason for me to stay. I can’t wait to go home to Burundi,” said David Ntakarutimana, a Burundian mason working in the DRC told IPS. He was one of those who was finally allowed to return home.

IPS UN Bureau Report