Countrymen after my life, says DRC refugee
Congolese refugee Boniface Sehungu who says his life is under threat. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO
A Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugee living in Uganda alleges that he is being trailed by his countrymen who are targeting his life.
Mr Boniface Sehungu, who has lived in Uganda for 13 years, says he was advised by security operatives against staying in the refugee camp for his own safety, while others reportedly advised him to always change his place of abode.
Mr Sehungu says he assumed refugee status after suspected M23 rebels in the DRC allegedly shot dead his father, who was a Major in the government army.
Mr Sehungu, who visitedMonitor’s regional bureau in Jinja City to narrate his ordeal, said he has a family of six, and therefore, cannot stay in one place for long.
“I cannot concentrate and earn a decent living because everything I do is under the radar yet I have a big family to look after,’’ he said on Saturday.
Mr Sehungu further alleges that one time, people, suspected to be from the DRC attacked him as he reached his residence, and left him with injuries, but managed to subdue and hand over one to Police, who later reportedly escaped from its custody.
According to Mr Sehungu, his attackers were speaking Lingala, a Bantu language used by over eight million people as a lingua franca in Northern parts of Congo and the DRC.
In his January 6, 2024 letter addressed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mr Gilbert Ouma, the Buikwe District Criminal Investigations Officer, confirms the security threat against Mr Sehungu by people suspected to be from the DR Congo.
“The abovementioned refugee reported a case of malicious damage to his house by unknown people who were speaking Lingala,” Mr Ouma’s letter reads in part, adding that Police are investigating the matter.
Mr Sehungu says he missed the renewal of his refugee status at the UNHCR office in Kampala reportedly because one of his family members was sick and his movement was limited by security operatives.
“This identity card you are seeing has expired, but I have not got the opportunity to go for its renewal because of the challenges I am facing,’’ said.
Asked for a comment on the matter, Ssezibwa Region Police Spokesperson Hellen Butoto corroborated the information in Mr Ouma’s letter, noting: “Police wrote to the UNHCR and even the LC1 chairman of Kasanja Village is aware.”
