UPDF | DRC | BUNAGANA 

Uganda by Monday evening, June 13, 2022 had closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following intensified fighting between government forces and the M23 rebels in the eastern part of the country. 

By 7:15pm on Monday June 14, 2022, according to Hajji Shafiq Ssekandi, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner (RDC), the borderline at Bunagana had cleared and the streets were empty after everyone had gone into hiding. 

He said Uganda had closed the gateway and the entire place was silent. 

He said the M23 fighters had taken over the other side of the border and all civilians had run away and were taking refuge in Bunagana town. Others, he said had gone to Nyakabande refugee camp and some had decided to go to the villages where they have friends and relatives. 

He said all the drivers of trucks carrying goods from Uganda en route to Goma were forced to cancel their journeys and were parked at Bunagana because of insecurity. 

He said by Monday evening, there were no police on the DR Congo side, no immigration officials to clear them and no single government officials were available, and all offices had closed down. 

“Currently there is no single person on the other side of the border to handle exports or cargo trucks and for that matter, all the trucks will remain here until things normalize on the other side,” he told journalists. 

He said by 7pm at the Bunagana borderline, all the Congolese nationals had entered Uganda and there was no single person seen on their side. 

He however said the UPDF were continuing to patrol the border on the Ugandan side and commended them for keeping security in the area, saying on the Ugandan side there were no threats to peace. 

According to the RDC, in the wake of intensified fighting, at least 137 Southern African Development Community (SADC) soldiers that have been helping the Congo government forces had crossed into Uganda and handed over themselves to UPDF plus 37 police officers. 

The RDC assured them that they were in safe hands. 

“We shall wait for the governments of DR Congo and that of Uganda to decide how they will cross back and join their colleagues at a later stage,” he explained. 

Earlier on Friday, June 10, 2022, the RDC said they received 126 new asylum seekers that entered through Bunagana border. Another 397 who were in the holding Center before and went back to DRC also returned on the same day. 

He explained that the total population at the holding area and Transit center by Frida was 10,111individuals, that is 2,528 at the Trading Centre and 7,583 at the holding center. 

He however said the cumulative number of asylum seekers manually registered from 28th March 2022 was 28,787 individuals out of 14,970 households. 

At least, he said in a report, 38 individuals left the holding center and went back to their Country of origin. 

“Over 4,000 Congolese slept on the streets and verandahs of shops in Bunagana Town. Others went into hiding in the villages along the borderline in Muramba and Nyarubuye sub counties. I visited the border at 3pm (Friday) with the DPC and we also heard the Ballistic missiles being fired,” he said earlier. 

“We interacted with the asylum seekers persuading them to go to the Transit Center but they were not willing,”. 

According to the RDC, cargo trucks going to Goma got stranded but at 5 pm they started crossing. 

Later, he said on Monday, even those that had crossed were forced to return. 

However, he said that there were concerns that the refugees might transmit diseases, including COVID-19. He said by Friday, two people tested positive for COVID-19 and were put in an isolation unit within the Camp. 

Another 10 were discharged from the isolation after completing the mandatory days and testing negative. A balance of seven people, he said, was still in isolation. But the situation remained tense at Bunagana with heavy artillery gun power heard in DRC by Friday. 

He said the over 10,000 refugees were now living in Nyakabande camp, which he said measures 1square kilometer, where they were receiving food from UNHCR and World Food Program. 

He assured Uganda had tightened security. But Kisoro local leaders want the refugees to be taken to the camp away from the communities because they were straining the services there.