His Excellency Michel Sama Lukonde,

The Premier Minister

The Democratic Republic of Congo                                

Kinshasa, DRCongo 

Re: Petition to the Democratic Republic of Congo Prime Minister: Request to recognize refugees of 1994 through issuing refugee identification cards, the security and the protection of refugees in the eastern DRCongo,

We the undersigned of this Petition do come to you for the above mentioned in favor of the legitimate demands of refugees especially in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This is our commitments to amplify the voices of thousands of refugees in DRCongo who are daily struggling to make these demands on which the DRC government has responded with silence, and that has reduced chances for refugees to enjoy protection in the country.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is signatory to the Universal Declaration of 1948, the United Nations Geneva Convention of 1951, the OUA Convention of 1969, and has put in place her own refugee domestic law of 2002 and the creation of National Commission for Refugees commonly known as (CNR) which runs all refugee affairs in the country, and the country enjoys the support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

DRCongo by then (Zaire) in 1994 welcome thousands of refugees from Rwanda who fled the Genocide, but shortly the country herself was confronted to various wars especially in the east which cost the lives of thousands of refugees and millions on Congolese since 1996 up to 2018. There are no clear statics about refugees as observed the Universal Periodic Review in 2013, however we estimate that more than 1,500,000 could be living in the eastern without clear documents.

We do believe that the general elections of December 2018 helped the country to turn the page of her 30 years history of wars and violence. Because of this belief the current President his Excellency Felix Tshisekedi Anthoine has made publicly various statements of good intentions and stated his commitments to ensure the protection and the well-being of refugees since 2019.

But despite the promises expressed by his Excellency since 2019 up to now the situation of refugees in the eastern part of the country remains the same, we have observed little change.

Thousands of refugees remain abandoned, have no refugee identification Cards, thousands of refugees have never been registered as such since 1994 up to now, thousands of refugees have no access to humanitarian relief aid, many refugees are daily victims of forced repatriation back to their countries of origin, many asylum seekers have been waiting for the refugee status for more than 10 years, and currently we observe military operations in the east targeting refugee areas especially in Goma and both refugees and asylum seekers have been victims alongside Congolese nationals.

Despite the presence of various humanitarian organizations in the eastern DRCongo, generally refugees are left out from the relief aid and organizations which are known globally as supporting refugees in other countries seem to focus only on Internally Displaced Persons in Eastern DRCongo.

This Petition seeks therefore the following:

To request your Government to put in place a clear plan aiming at the protection of refugees and mobilize the International Community to support refugees in line with the Universal Periodic Review Recommendations of 2013,

To urgently put in place all the necessary support that can ensure the recognition of refugees especially those who fled Rwanda during the genocide in 1994 through registration and issuing refugee identification cards to all refugees,

Ensure the security of all refugees and their protection especially in the eastern part of the country mainly in the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu Provinces,

To stop immediately all forms of forced repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers especially in the eastern and particular in North Kivu Province where those of 1994 are subjected to various forms of repatriation against their will,

To make urgent reforms in the National Commission of Refugees (CNR) by strengthening her with adequate and competent human resource that can fully respond to the urgent needs of the protection of all refugees and asylum seekers, improve the working environment of CNR staffs and provide the CNR with the necessary financial support,

To create awareness and direct all humanitarian agencies operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo especially in the eastern parts to include refugees in their operations,

To put in place clear and tangible activities that may fully implement the various commitments towards refugees so far expressed by His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi Antoine, the President of Democratic Republic of Congo,

Implement the Universal Periodic Review Recommendations focusing on refugees of 2013,

CC:

Fillipo Grandi

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees