Survivors pay tribute to the victims of the Gatumba Massacre

As Congolese citizens, the 166 victims had come to Burundi to seek shelter fleeing killings perpetrated by militias, and armed forces in Uvira, Bukavu, and their surrounding areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Due to violence and wars in the DRC, the Banyamulenge as other Congolese communities have settled in the United Kingdom. On 16th August 2025, members of the Banyamulenge community and their friends in the United Kingdom joined survivors, and relatives of those deceased to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Gatumba Genocide. As a Sanctuary City, Sheffield as well as Bradford, Hull, Rotherham, Manchester, Chesterfield, and Birmingham are now home to hundreds of Banyamulenge families. The UK is now home for Banyamulenge, Congolese and other communities who fled violence in their home country.

Survivors’ testimonies.

In Gatumba camp, refugees whose majority were Banyamulenge had makeshift tents as their homes. Nyasafari is one of the survivors of 2004 Gatumba massacre who attended the 21st commemoration in Sheffield. Her heartbreaking testimony reveals how long it takes to heal wounds. She still recalls details of the Gatumba tragedy as if it happened last night.

On 13 August 2004, Nyasafari had a busy day enjoying a football match that opposed two local teams in Gatumba. Twegerane, the Banyamulenge refugees football team had won the match. With her two other friends, they courageously spent the afternoon fetching water for the football players. She recalls that they had a normal evening expecting to wake up the next day. After dinner, Nyasafari and other members of the church choir met their pastor to discuss bible stories. At some point around 9 pm, the pastor left and went to rest. Nyasafari and her friends pursued their conversation as young people talking about everything. The chat took roughly an hour.

While they were still chatting, they saw someone from afar standing close to her church premises. Next to that person, there spotted something that looked as “tripod stand”. In their mind, someone standing closer to the church premises would be someone going to the church. She then go to rest in her tent.

Nyasafari recounts that it was around 10 pm (Burundi time) when they heard loud sounds of people chanting and playing local drums. In the first instance, it was like an unusual church service. Shortly, the loud noise turned to be bullets shotting coupled with loud noise of people screaming and calling for help. The shotting approached her tent, her mother was injured, the tent set ablaze and everyone trying to save her life. In a short while, the Gatumba refugee camp became a slaughterhouse. Nyasafari barely survived by running away from the refugee camp with her white jumper.

Attackers were speaking different Congolese local languages, armed with rifles, machetes, fuel and incendiary devices, moved through the camp setting shelters alight. Anyone who tried to escape was shot as tents were set ablaze, injuries succumbed under intense fire poured with fuel. The next morning, the Gatumba refugee camp was filled with dead bodies lying down or burnt to ashes.

Nyasafari recalled that her two friends with whom they fetched water were found dead the next morning. Two handsome young children who were closer friends to her and lived together in the same tent, were also found dead the next morning. The next morning, she recalled waking up and holding Nyahoza’s dead baby who died while he was breastfeeding. She believed the baby was still alive. She later realized that Nyahoza’s family of 4 children died, and they were still lying down as they used to sleep.

Nyasafari’s mum who also attended the commemoration barely survived shooting wounds. She was brought to the hospital early morning. She recalled that 15 people died in the tent where they were sheltered. Survivors and testimonies confirmed as eyewitness that hundreds were wounded and everyone was traumatized.

Gatumba massacre is not the only traumatic experience this family has encountered. In August-September 1998, Nyasafari’s family survived another tragedy that unfolded in Vyura, currently Tanganyika province. The Congolese army and militias chased the Banyamulenge in Vyura on the basis that they do not deserve to leave the DRC, specifically in former Katanga province where they were seen as “strangers”.

Who Were the Victims?

The Banyamulenge is a Congolese community affiliated to the Tutsi of the African Great Lakes region. Colonial misrepresentations have categorized local communities in the African Great Lakes region, the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania into native and non-native. The Banyamulenge and Tutsi were largely portrayed as non-native. Whenever they attacked the Banyamulenge, perpetrators of violence vow to get rid of them and send them back to where they believe they came from.

In 2004, Gatumba had two separate refugee sites with different tents’ colours. Banyamulenge site had green tents. A coalition of militias and armed groups from the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda have attacked the refugee camps knowing it sheltered the Banyamulenge. Local sources and corroborated testimonies confirmed that assailants spared the other site. The attack was later claimed by the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), a Burundian Hutu rebel group that was fighting the Burundian government at the time. Human rights groups suggested that local forces and militias from the DRC, hostile to the Banyamulenge, were involved.

In 2004, Human Rights Watch recorded that in Gatumba, assailants used Congolese local languages to identify who should be killed or not. Some people survived because they spoke other local Congolese languages other than Kinyamulenge (Banyamulenge language).

Delayed Justice

In 2004, several world leaders including the United Nations General Secretary and African Union leaders have condemned the Gatumba massacre. For instance. the then-UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, described the killings as an “outrageous crime against humanity” and called for swift justice. Burundi’s government vowed to prosecute those responsible. However, tangible accountability has proved elusive. Since then, nothing has yet been done to prosecute perpetrators though the UN mission in Burundi had collected testimonies and evidence. For the survivors, this failure to deliver justice remains as second wound — one that has deepened their sense of abandonment by the international community.

What can Sheffield do?

For survivors, the massacre is not just a historical tragedy but a lived memory. Survivors who have resettled in the UK carry the trauma of different cycles of violence that they endured. As violence continues to affect their relatives in the DRC, it largely affects the wellbeing of those who have settled in the UK.

The Banyamulenge current security situation is highly worrying. Since 2017, Banyamulenge are experiencing different forms of violence that have killed thousands, destroyed their homeland and militarily besieged those who are still living in South Kivu. Sheffield’s Councilor Alexi Dimond called for synergy of local communities in Sheffield to counter some of the challenges they face. Alexi reminded attendees that there are issues across Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia and all require attention. Therefore, local communities should come together to share their experiences and perspectives. Councillor Alexi admitted that Sheffield Council and Councillors are there to support.