A total of 2,061 refugees fleeing the fighting in eastern DR Congo have crossed into Rwanda since November 13, The New Times has learnt.

Fighting in North Kivu province continues between the M23 rebels and the government coalition, which includes armed groups such as the FDLR.

As of Wednesday, January 4, there were 1,800 refugees in Rwanda. Nearly 130 have returned to the DR Congo.

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Some 145 Congolese refugees were received from DR Congo as of Tuesday, according to the information obtained by The New Times.

The fleeing Congolese are hosted at the Kijote Transit Centre in Nyabihu District in the Western Province. They are supported with basic needs, including medical treatment.

However, due to the centre’s limited capacity, the refugees are now being transferred to Mahama camp in Kirehe District in the Eastern Province, which is already home to tens of thousands of Congolese and Burundian refugees.

On Wednesday, over 780 refugees were transferred from Kijote Transit Centre to Mahama camp.

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According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, as of May 2021, there were over 76,000 Congolese refugees in Rwanda, some of whom have lived in refugee camps for over 25 years.

The refugees, who live in camps of Kigeme, Mugombwa, Kiziba and Mahama, represent 60 per cent of all refugees in Rwanda.