History is often written after tragedy has already occurred—but for the Banyamulenge in eastern Congo, it is unfolding in real time and we have the chance to intervene now.
I am a survivor of war and a member of the Banyamulenge community. I know what it means to flee with nothing but fear in your body and hope clinging to memory—to lose neighbors, to bury grief quietly, and to rebuild a life far from home.
The U.S. Congress and international community must act to protect refugees and isolated communities that are at risk of being destroyed.
In the hills of South Kivu, Banyamulenge families are being hunted, displaced, and erased.
I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a U.S. citizen. Before being resettled in the United States, I spent a decade in a refugee camp in Burundi. My life has been shaped by displacement and by the responsibility to create opportunities where I now live. In Kentucky, I oversee statewide refugee workforce development, and every day I witness refugees actively contributing to our communities—filling critical workforce gaps and strengthening the Commonwealth. When I speak about the Banyamulenge today, I do so not only as a survivor, but as someone who sees what displaced people can become when the world chooses protection over indifference.
In the hills of South Kivu, Banyamulenge families are being hunted, displaced, and erased. From weak phone signals in the bush, people whisper about children sleeping on the ground, elders dying from exposure, and women giving birth without medical care. Many of these communities remain encircled by armed groups, preventing families from accessing their farms or reaching the local markets in Minembwe where they normally sustain their livelihoods. Humanitarian assistance has also been extremely limited, and many displaced families report that aid organizations have not been able to reach these areas despite the growing humanitarian need. Members of my own community remain in Minembwe today as aerial strikes continue in civilian areas.
For more than eight years, this violence has continued in full view of the world, yet it has been largely ignored.
The Banyamulenge are Congolese Tutsi who have lived for generations in the High Plateaux of South Kivu. Today, they are facing mass atrocity. According to local sources and human-rights monitors, communities have been encircled by armed groups, including elements of the Congolese army (FARDC), Wazalendo militias, and allied foreign forces, the majority from Burundi. Homes, churches, and community infrastructure have been systematically destroyed. Entire villages have been emptied. Cattle herds, the primary source of livelihood for many Banyamulenge families, have also been looted, stripping communities of their economic survival.
What is happening to the Banyamulenge is not inevitable. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has made political choices and the international community has remained silent. For more than eight years, this violence has continued in full view of the world, yet it has been largely ignored.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Uvira.In January 2026, following the withdrawal of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), many Banyamulenge civilians fled the city after receiving warnings that they would be targeted because of their easily identifiable Tutsi appearance. Renewed violence against civilians followed. Local sources documented widespread looting, executions, and the destruction of Banyamulenge property, and churches. Close to 98 percent of Banyamulenge families fled to Kamanyola, where about 990 people are now living in a provisional displacement site without humanitarian assistance and no safe path to return home.
The violence against the Banyamulenge did not emerge suddenly. For years, political scapegoating and hate speech have portrayed them as “foreigners” in their own country, language that has repeatedly fueled attacks and exclusion. The memory of the 2004 Gatumba massacre in neighboring Burundi, where more than 160 Banyamulenge refugees were killed in a camp meant to protect them, remains an unresolved trauma for the community.
This crisis is not unfolding in isolation. Recent peace initiatives and regional agreements, supported by the United States, have emphasized stability and strategic interests, including access to critical minerals, while insufficiently prioritizing the protection of vulnerable minority communities such as the Banyamulenge.
U.S. engagement must advance not only regional stability, but also the lives, rights, and dignity of communities most at risk.
As a U.S. citizen and a member of the Banyamulenge community, I call on the United States and the international community to act now. Immediate action is both possible and necessary:
- Congress must press for cessation of hostilities centered on civilian protection, including the establishment of secure humanitarian corridors for encircled communities.
- The United States and the international community must urgently scale up humanitarian assistance for displaced families who have lost homes, livelihoods, and access to food, medical care, and other essential services.
- Burundian forces operating in eastern Congo, in coordination with the Congolese army, must immediately cease aerial and drone strikes in civilian-populated areas, including the Minembwe High Plateaux and other affected areas.
These are not radical demands. They are the minimum required to prevent another mass atrocity.
The world has heard stories like this before and too often acted only after it was too late. Today, the Banyamulenge are living through this terror again.
History is watching, and so are the families hiding in the hills of South Kivu, waiting to see whether the world will finally choose action over silence.
