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Chapter · Identity

Identity

How identity was turned against Congolese Banyamulenge — a crisis of belonging, the cost paid at Gatumba, the 2017 escalation, and the unfinished demand for justice. For the settlement chronicle, begin with History.

A name held with dignity — Ndi Umunyamulenge

Not because they lacked a homeland — but because hostile actors refused to accept that they belonged.

The crisis of belonging

As told in History, the Banyamulenge are Congolese of South Kivu. This chapter takes up what that identity has cost — beginning with the crisis of belonging.

← Read the History chapter
Introduction

Introduction

When Belonging Becomes Dangerous

To be Banyamulenge is to carry a Congolese highland name — language, cattle culture, kinship, and a home in South Kivu. For generations that name has also been treated as a problem: marked as “different,” doubted as foreign, and used by political actors to strip people of safety.

This chapter starts there — with the crisis of belonging. Only then does it turn to Gatumba, where that crisis reached its most terrible cost, and to the unfinished work of justice that still follows the survivors.

Identity as a weapon

Identity as a weapon

The Crisis of Belonging

Language, cultural practice, and appearance marked the Banyamulenge as “different” in the eyes of some neighbouring communities. The colonial era, particularly under Belgian rule, institutionalized rigid ethnic classifications that sowed lasting resentment. That legacy hardened into a post-independence crisis of belonging — not because the people lacked a homeland, but because hostile actors refused to accept it.

The 1964 Luluabourg Constitution of newly independent Congo introduced a citizenship clause that declared as Congolese only those whose ancestors belonged to tribes established in the territory before 18 October 1908 — the date of the Belgian Congo's creation. While meant to define national identity, it cast lasting doubt on groups like the Banyamulenge, whose deep highland presence was often reframed by hostile actors as “recent migration.”

By the 1990s, successive regimes repeatedly labelled the Banyamulenge “foreigners” and “enemies of the state.” That rhetoric was a precursor to violence. When conflict erupted in South Kivu, many fled. Some sought refuge in neighbouring Burundi, hoping for safety. Instead they found themselves in a new theatre of the same war — where their identity made them targets once again.

Burned shelters and debris at the Gatumba refugee camp after the massacre

Aftermath at the Gatumba refugee camp — burned shelters and scattered belongings after the attack of 13 August 2004.

Via Human Rights Watch.

Destroyed green-tarped shelters and recovery workers at Gatumba after the massacre

Remnants of the Gatumba camp after the massacre — burned shelters and recovery work among the ruins.

UNHCR photo archive.

A UN peacekeeper documents rows of coffins at the Gatumba funeral

A United Nations peacekeeper documents rows of coffins as mourners gather on the hillside after the Gatumba Massacre.

Via Human Rights Watch.

13 August 2004

The Gatumba Massacre

By August 2004, a UNHCR camp at Gatumba, in western Burundi, sheltered roughly 1,200 Congolese refugees — most of them Banyamulenge who had fled violence in South Kivu. They came looking for a night of rest under international protection. They were mothers, children, elders, and families who had already lost homes.

Around midnight on 13 August 2004, fighters of the Forces nationales de libération (FNL) — then led by Agathon Rwasa — stormed the camp with guns, machetes, and grenades. Survivor testimony and Human Rights Watch investigations describe a methodical assault: tents torn open, families hunted down, Banyamulenge singled out with ethnic slurs. United Nations peacekeepers on site could not stop it. Some people escaped into the bush; many did not.

By morning, roughly 152–166 civilians were dead and about 106 wounded. Entire households were gone. Children woke as orphans. The world expressed outrage; arrest warrants followed for FNL leaders, including Rwasa and spokesperson Pasteur Habimana. A full reckoning never came. Political convenience outran justice — and the survivors were left to carry both grief and memory alone.

Archive · August 2004

Witness photographs

Two photographs from the days after Gatumba — the mass funeral and the work of mourning, kept as witness.

Rows of coffins at the mass funeral for Gatumba Massacre victims, August 2004

Mourners gather on 16 August 2004 around the coffins of more than 150 Congolese Banyamulenge killed at the UN-run Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.

© 2004 Aloys Niyoyita / AP Photo. Via Human Rights Watch.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Coffins laid out near a UNHCR tent as survivors identify victims at Gatumba

Coffins laid out near a UNHCR shelter as Tutsi Congolese survivors begin identifying the dead, 15 August 2004.

© 2004 Aloys Niyoyita / Associated Press. Via Deseret News.

Source: Deseret News

The legacy of impunity

The legacy of impunity

Years Without Justice

Fifteen years on, Human Rights Watch found victims and families still waiting. The silence said something brutal: that these lives could be set aside for political ease. Survivors live with trauma; orphans grow up without parents; communities that should have been protected learned they were expendable.

In 2024, survivors and relatives filed new criminal cases — a spark of hope after two decades. Progress remains slow. The perpetrators are still free. Naming Gatumba honestly means naming that unfinished demand for judgment.

Highlands under siege — villages, herds, and memory at risk

2017 – Present

Beyond Gatumba — The 2017 Escalation

The same myth that made Gatumba possible did not die with it.

In August 2004, the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi was attacked, and more than 150 Banyamulenge refugees were massacred. The message was clear: the Banyamulenge did not belong. But the violence did not end there. Thirteen years later, a new and more devastating phase began.

What Happened Since 2017

2017 – Present

What Happened Since 2017

Since mid-2017, the Banyamulenge highlands of South Kivu — across the territories of Uvira, Mwenga, and Fizi — have been subjected to a sustained campaign of destruction. Armed coalitions of local Mai-Mai militias, foreign armed groups, and at times elements of the national army (FARDC) have carried out coordinated attacks targeting Banyamulenge civilians specifically.

  • 300+

    Villages burned (2017–present)

  • 265,000

    Cattle looted or destroyed

  • Thousands

    Civilians killed

  • Tens of thousands

    Displaced or besieged

This is not a series of isolated incidents. Scholars and human rights observers have described it as a “genocide by attrition” — a slow, methodical process of destroying a people's means of survival, restricting their movement, and eliminating them through starvation, exposure, and direct violence.

The Mechanism: How It Works

2017 – Present

The Mechanism: How It Works

The violence operates on three interlocking levels:

1. The Narrative War

Banyamulenge civilians are persistently labeled “Rwandan invaders” — a designation that strips them of legitimacy and renders their killing politically acceptable. This framing originates from Belgian colonial archives that classified them as “newcomers,” despite centuries of documented residence. Political elites in South Kivu use the “Banyamulenge question” as a mobilizing tool: calling for their expulsion or elimination is socially and politically rewarded. Hate speech circulates freely, increasingly amplified through Congolese social media.

2. Economic Warfare

Cattle are the center of Banyamulenge economy, identity, and social structure. The systematic looting of over 265,000 cattle is not opportunistic theft — it is a strategy to dismantle the community's material existence. Without cattle, without access to grazing lands, and without the ability to farm under siege, the Banyamulenge are being starved out of existence.

3. Humanitarian Blockade

Those who survive the burning of their villages find themselves trapped. Sieges on Banyamulenge enclaves prevent access to farming fields and humanitarian relief. Even in areas theoretically under MONUSCO (UN peacekeeper) protection — such as Mikenke — civilians face kidnappings, sexual violence, and killings. Humanitarian organizations operating in the region struggle with access barriers, bureaucratic obstacles, and ethnic polarization among their own local staff, compromising the principles of neutrality and impartiality.

State Complicity

2017 – Present

State Complicity

The Congolese state has not been a passive observer. Its role includes:

  • Revoking Banyamulenge citizenship (formally around 1981), a status only partially restored.

  • Ordering their expulsion in December 1995 under the Zairean government.

  • Tolerating or supporting political figures who publicly demand the removal or annihilation of Banyamulenge people.

  • Failing to investigate or prosecute those responsible for massacres.

Similar to the Rohingya in Myanmar, the state has at times denied or destroyed evidence of centuries of Banyamulenge residence.

2017 – Present

Why the World Isn't Watching

The Banyamulenge situation has received remarkably little international attention. Several factors contribute to this silence:

  • Conflict fatigue

    Eastern DRC is perceived as perpetually chaotic; outsiders disengage.

  • Mischaracterization

    Banyamulenge civilians are frequently portrayed as “combatants” rather than victims, blurring the line between a community and armed factions.

  • Deliberate obstruction

    Those perpetrating the violence have an interest in concealing the civilian toll.

  • Geographic isolation

    The highlands of South Kivu are difficult to access for journalists, researchers, and aid workers.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has flagged the Banyamulenge as a group of rising concern. Genocide Watch has issued alerts. But sustained, high-level international action has not followed.

What This Means Today

As of the present, Banyamulenge civilians remain besieged, impoverished, and under continued threat of attack. Children suffer from malnutrition. Elders die from the inhumane conditions of prolonged displacement. The community's cultural continuity — tied to land, cattle, and shared highland life — is being systematically dismantled.

This is not a historical chapter that has closed. It is an ongoing process.

Identity today

Identity today

Burden and Resilience

Gatumba is not an isolated night. It is what happens when identity is treated as a weapon. That same identity is also a source of strength: pastoral life, language, custom, and the right to safety in one's own country.

Many Banyamulenge still face discrimination, land dispossession, and violence. The rhetoric of “foreignness” persists. Some were drawn into the region's wars as fighters; many more were only victims. That complexity is often used to smear the whole community. It does not erase the right to live without fear.

A call to action

A call to action

Justice, Recognition, and Healing

This story is not only loss. It is survival, dignity, and the work still owed to those who remain.

Demand accountability. Burundi, the DRC, and the wider international community must prioritise prosecution. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Support the survivors. The Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation (GRSF) offers psychosocial support, legal aid, and advocacy — vital work that remains underfunded.

Uphold citizenship rights. Full recognition as Congolese nationals must never be bargained away. Identity must never be a pretext for violence.

Teach accurate history. Shared narratives — without distortion or demonisation — are part of healing. Sites such as Ndi Umunyamulenge exist so that memory is not erased.

Conclusion

The Unfinished Work of Memory

The crisis of belonging made Gatumba possible. Remembering the dead means facing that truth — and refusing the impunity that followed.

The Banyamulenge deserve more than mourning. They deserve justice, recognition, and a future where their identity is a source of pride — not peril. The world cannot afford to look away again.

Stand with the survivors

Reach out. Help secure justice.

The Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation advocates for accountability, compensation, and healing. Visit their site to learn how you can support survivors and keep the demand for justice alive.

Visit gatumbasurvivors.org

Sources & Further Reading

Referenced Works

  • Stearns et al. — “Banyamulenge: Insurgency and Exclusion in the Mountains of South Kivu” (Rift Valley Institute, 2013)
  • Vlassenroot, Koen — “Citizenship, Identity Formation, and Conflict in South Kivu” (Review of African Political Economy, 2002)
  • UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) — “Report on Hate Speech and Incitement to Hostility in the DRC” (2021)
  • Mamdani, Mahmood — “When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and the Genocide in Rwanda”

Further reading on Gatumba

← Read the History chapter