A
small but remarkable new migration is taking place in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo, as well-heeled Congolese up sticks to live
in Rwandan towns lying just across the border.
Gisenyi
and Kamembe, on the northern and southern tips of Lake Kivu
respectively, are seen as more stable, more secure and with a better
standard of living than their sprawling, troubled Congolese neighbours,
the cities of Goma and Bukavu.
"In
2013 I received threats in Goma. I was evacuated to Gisenyi. I went back
to Goma a year later. I was still worried for my safety. Three friends
in my district were killed," said Jacques Kahora, a humanitarian worker
who settled permanently in Gisenyi in 2016.
Adrien,
a 28-year-old employee with an NGO, has been renting a house in Gisenyi
for 80 dollars (65 euros) a month for almost a year, roughly half of
what he would pay in his home town of Goma.
Each day he nips back across the border to Goma, a matter of a few kilometres (miles), to work and see family and friends.
"I
mainly do it for access to certain basic things, like water and
electricity. In Gisenyi, there are hardly any power cuts, but in Goma
they happen daily -- sometimes you can go a whole week without
electricity," said Adrien.
Rwanda
also offers a high-performance wifi service, which is used by residents
of Goma and Bukavu whenever Congolese authorities cut internet access
as part of a crackdown on anti-government protests.
Like
Adrien, most of the Congolese nationals still work in Goma or Bukavu and
only spend the night in Rwanda. "Here all we bring is sleep," says
Leston Kambale, 38, who moved to Gisenyi eight years ago and has put his
three children into Rwandan schools.
"As an
IT specialist, I needed electricity 24 hours a day. And there's also
the question of safety. Here in Gisenyi, you can walk around from dusk
to dawn without a problem," he added.
To
cross the border, Congolese must present their passport or special
authorisation issued by the Economic Community of the Great Lakes
Countries (ECGLC) at the two brand-new customs posts on both sides of
the border.
People returning at night have to watch the time, as the Congolese border post closes at 10 pm.
To
live in Rwanda, the Congolese must pay 20,000 Rwandan francs (about $23)
to obtain a two-year residence permit -- more than a week's average pay
in this part of the world, but a modest sum for middle-class Congolese.
- '1,000 hills, 1,000 holes' -
How
many Congolese live part-time or permanently in Rwanda is unclear. But
anecdotal evidence -- the numbers of people looking for homes or
building plots, and rising prices driven by the demand -- suggests the
movement is gaining momentum.
On
Sundays, young people from Goma, which lies on the northern tip of Lake
Kivu, cross the border to enjoy a day of relaxation on the Tam-Tam
beach, a popular well-tended spot on the shore.
"In
Goma, there are only private properties on the lakeside. Here in
Gisenyi, we can still go for a swim," says Guilain Balume, a journalist
met between the paddle boats and the volleyball pitch.
At the
southern end of the lake, Congolese people are leaving overpopulated
Bukavu, where houses with steep roofs are clustered together on rising
hillsides. They head for Kamembe, close to Cyangugu on the frontier.
"More
than 900 families have left Bukavu to live in Kamembe," said Patient
Bashombe, a lawyer in charge of the coordination bureau for civil
society in DR Congo's South Kivu province.
"Rwanda
is the 'Land of a Thousand Hills' and we live in the Land of a Thousand
Potholes," a Congolese driver, Jean, said drily as he contemplated a
cratered local road.
At the
Goma-Gisenyi border post, an aged Congolese man was returning "back
home" to Rwanda after a Sunday spent with the family in Goma.
Referring
to Rwandan military involvement during the Second Congo War, which
officially ended in 2003, the man quipped, "The Rwandans conquered us by
force of arms. Today we are conquering them economically.”
AFP
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