By Rorisang Modiba
- Thousands flee M23 violence in the DRC as families split at border crossings.
- Refugee camps in Burundi are overcrowded as 65,000 people arrived in just one month.
Atosha clung tightly to a floating object as the fast-moving Rusizi River pulled at her body.
It was her first time crossing a river and she was terrified. But she had no choice. War had come to her hometown in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and she had to run.
Beside her was a young man she had paid to take her across the 130-metre river to safety in Burundi.
“I was terrified,” said the 23-year-old. But her relief didn’t last long. When she reached the other side, her sisters, aged 10 and 14, were nowhere to be seen, The Guardian reported.
The river had taken them.
She stood on the bank, crying, while others rushed past her — part of the wave of thousands of people escaping the violence in eastern DRC.
The M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, had taken over villages and towns, forcing families to flee with nothing.
For Atosha, the horror started on 14 February in Bafuliiru Chiefdom when wounded Congolese soldiers arrived in her village, spreading fear.
One of them, badly injured and missing an eye, warned her:
“If you can get to Burundi, do it today. The fighting is coming here tonight. People are being killed, and women and girls are being attacked.”
Her family had little time to decide. A few days later, her father told her to take her sisters and head for the border. Her parents would follow later.
“There was no time to pack. When bullets are flying, you don’t even think about taking anything,” she said.
They joined hundreds of others, some on foot, some on bicycles, all rushing towards the border.
At the riverbank, Atosha paid 20,000 Congolese francs (about R130) for the crossing.
But now, standing in Burundi alone, her sisters gone, she had nothing but heartbreak.
She is now stuck in a crowded stadium in Cibitoke province with thousands of other refugees, all waiting to be moved to a safer place.
More than 7,000 people have been killed in the DRC in recent months.
At least 65,000 have crossed into Burundi — the highest number in decades.
The United Nations has reported brutal killings, looting and widespread destruction.
Atosha escaped — but at a terrible cost. All she can do now is wait and hope her parents survive.
Pictured above: A woman in Congo.
Image source: @UNICEFAfrica
