Reference :
V-P-BI-E-00181
Date :
03/03/2026
Caption :
Eastern Burundi, Buhumuza province, Busuma, a refugee camp hosting people from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fataki Zawadi, a Congolese refugee living in the Busuma camp, was reunited with his daughter Charlotte, from whom he had been separated during their displacement, thanks to the ICRC's family reunification service.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
"I arrived in Burundi in December 2025 with my seven children. After fleeing our country, we spent two weeks in the Kansega transit camp before being transferred to Busuma. Everything happened very quickly when we left Kansega, due to the large number of refugees who had to be urgently relocated to Busuma by bus. In the rush, I lost track of my daughter, Loria Charlotte, who is 16 years old. I still don’t know how it happened. We arrived in Busuma on December 19, but the anguish of not knowing where my daughter was never left me. For more than two months, I lived in constant worry, desperately searching for her. Then, on February 27, thanks to the support of the ICRC, I was finally able to find her. It was an immense relief, and I cannot express how grateful I am for their help. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. However, life here is very difficult. We struggle to find food, and we don’t have proper shelter. The nights are freezing, and we lack adequate clothing to protect ourselves from the cold. Fetching water is an exhausting task. If I were offered the chance to return to the DRC today, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second, despite the risks. Here, there isn’t even a school for the children. Although there is a health center in the camp, it lacks medicine. For example, when someone gets malaria, they are only given a single paracetamol tablet. My son recently suffered from diarrhea, but they couldn’t do anything for him. Every day is a struggle, but finding my daughter has given me a little courage to keep going."
Since early 2025, clashes have intensified in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing hundreds of thousands of people across the region. Tens of thousands have fled to Burundi, where more than 80,000 Congolese refugees are seeking safety in overcrowded camps such as Busuma, Musenyi and Cishemere. This sudden influx has placed significant pressure on Burundi’s limited resources. The ICRC is working in collaboration with the Burundi Red Cross to provide essential humanitarian services, such as water trucking and disinfection operations. Together, they are also striving to reunite families separated by the conflict by helping them restore contact with their loved ones.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
7966x5975
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
