{"id":120127,"date":"2026-02-20T13:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:36:30","slug":"rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRwanda has changed,\u201d says returnee from DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Seventy-year-old Joseph Sebigori is among 324 Rwandans who returned home from DR Congo on Thursday, February 19, through the Grande Barrie\u0300re border post in Rubavu District.<\/p>\n<p>The latest group brings the total number of returnees to more than 7,000 since January 2025.<\/p>\n<p>A father of four, Sebigori said he fled Rwanda in 1998 during a turbulent period when northern parts of the country were under attack by genocidal forces infiltrating from DR Congo, where they had fled after being defeated by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA).<\/p>\n<p>After crossing into DR Congo, he struggled to survive in Masisi Territory in the east of the country. However, during a visit to Rwanda in the 2000s, he witnessed the transformation taking place and began considering a return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we arrived in DR Congo, we kept moving around, hoping for a better life, but things did not work out. So, my wife, children, and I decided to return home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UPDATE: A total of 324 Rwandans returning from eastern DR Congo crossed the Grande Barrie\u0300re Border Post in Rubavu District on Thursday, February 19.<\/p>\n<p>The new arrivals bring the total number of returnees to more than 7,000. pic.twitter.com\/5eBGspHUHY<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) February 19, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Like many other returnees, Sebigori expressed gratitude for the country\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe country looks very different from before,\u201d he added. \u201cMany things have changed compared to when we left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Polina Uwambajimana, 55, also from Masisi Territory, fled Rwanda during 1994. She said she remained in eastern DR Congo because she lacked safe passage back in Rwanda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a farmer. We heard bullets and just left the country,\u201d said Uwambajimana, \u201cBut I am happy after crossing the border and stepping back into Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prosper Mulindwa, Mayor of Rubavu District, welcomed the new arrivals urging other citizens still in the forests of eastern DR Congo to return home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI encourage all of you to use your phones and other communication channels to tell your families and colleagues you left behind to also come back home,\u201d the mayor said in his welcoming remarks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no reason for anyone to remain a refugee. You can choose to work or live wherever you want, but you must do so legally, by obtaining proper travel documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The emergency ministry\u2019s figures indicate that 3.5 million Rwandans have been repatriated from DR Congo over the past three decades while Rwanda remains home to over 100,000 Congolese refugees.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Seventy-year-old Joseph Sebigori is among 324 Rwandans who returned home from DR Congo on Thursday, February 19, through the Grande Barrie\u0300re border post in Rubavu District. The latest group brings the total number of returnees to more than 7,000 since January 2025. A father of four, Sebigori said he fled Rwanda in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":120126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[7151,6905,843,758],"class_list":["post-120127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-drc-congo","tag-grande-barriere","tag-rubavu","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cRwanda has changed,\u201d says returnee from DR Congo - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seventy-year-old Joseph Sebigori is among 324 Rwandans who returned home from DR Congo on Thursday, February 19, through ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cRwanda has changed,\u201d says returnee from DR Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seventy-year-old Joseph Sebigori is among 324 Rwandans who returned home from DR Congo on Thursday, February 19, through ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T13:10:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T13:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1771581900.532058.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cRwanda has changed,\u201d says returnee from DR Congo\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T13:10:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T13:36:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\"},\"wordCount\":415,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1771581900.532058.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"DRC Congo\",\"Grande Barri\u00e8re\",\"Rubavu\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/rwanda-has-changed-says-returnee-from-dr-congo\",\"name\":\"\u201cRwanda has changed,\u201d says returnee from DR Congo - 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