Rutsiro: More Rwandan refugees return from DRC 

After 20 years living as a refugee in Congo, Charlotte Nkundizana aged 65 returned home with her family and taken to former Kayove commune in Rutsiro, her district of origin.

Having spent close to 20 years in the remote areas of DRC, she thought that she was condemned to the pain of exile for the rest of her life.

Upon arrival Nkundizana revealed that misleading information about insecurity in Rwanda kept her away for long despite the need to get home.

“But what I found after crossing the border was totally different from what I used to hear while we lived in the bushes,” she says.

Nkundizana, all her life as a refugee she depended on agriculture. She says the lived in Rumbishi in Karehe Province with her family, which is 400 kilometers from Kinshasa city.

She disclosed that it was not until Simon Ngirabatware; her brother learnt of her whereabouts and called her, saying Rwanda is peaceful.

“Every time I decided to come back, my fellow refugees could discourage me with romours of insecurity in Rwanda. After my brother confirmed to me, I immediately went to the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), who brought us back,” she said.

While in Rutsiro, Nkundizana was amazed by rapid development of the area saying Rutsiro has developed compared to 20 years back.

“In Congo, people live in houses with tile roofs but residents here have built houses with iron sheet roofs. The place is clean and green everywhere, I am happy to be back home again,” she added.

Charlotte Nkundizana, a widow returned with her eldest daughter and two grandchildren.