The border crossing of Kavimvira, between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, reopened on Monday, February 23 after more than two months of closure. This reopening comes after the withdrawal of the M23 armed group from the strategic city of Uvira in South Kivu.
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The border crossing at Kavimvira, located on the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika between Bujumbura and the Congolese city of Uvira, reopened on Monday, February 23 at 8:00 am local time after more than two months of closure. This crucial passage for the region’s economy was closed in December 2025 following an offensive by the anti-government M23 group on Uvira, in the eastern province of South Kivu.
Picture: Internal displaced people fleeing the conflicts in the province of South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, arriving in Cibitoke, Burundi, on December 11, 2025.
The eastern DRC has been devastated by thirty years of conflict and is experiencing a new surge of violence since the resurgence of the M23 in 2021, supported by Kigali and its army. The offensive launched in December near Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, aimed to deprive Kinshasa of support from the Burundian army, leading Burundi to close its border.
In January 2026, the M23 withdrew its remaining troops from Uvira in response to an American request, and the Congolese army announced that they would regain control of the lakeside city. During the closure, trade continued between the two countries across Lake Tanganyika.
A landlocked region dependent on imports
Uvira and its landlocked region heavily rely on food, medicine, construction materials, and vehicles imported from neighboring Burundi, especially since the M23 took control of the provincial capital Bukavu in February 2025. Access to the Congolese market is also crucial for the Burundian economy, according to regional specialists.
“The border is reopened from this Monday morning, people are crossing,” said Jean-Jacques Purusi, governor of South Kivu province.
“The border has been open since this morning at 8:00 am, we see many Congolese returning home,” said an officer from the General Directorate of Migrations (CGM), the police at the Burundian border, speaking anonymously.
Other border crossings between DRC and Burundi, located along the Ruzizi plain where the M23 is still stationed after their withdrawal from Uvira in January, remain closed, according to these sources.
Over 80,000 refugees in overcrowded camps
Over 80,000 people have fled to Burundi since the M23 offensive on Uvira, according to the United Nations. Many of these refugees are crowded in saturated camps, where cholera killed at least eight people in late December.
“Many of us want to go back to Congo because we are living in inhumane conditions, but we are stuck here for now,” lamented a resident of the refugee camp in Busuma, Burundi, anonymously on February 23. “For now, the camp officials have not told us anything about what will happen,” he added.
Interrogated by the AFP, the governor of South Kivu province stated that a decision would be made “soon” regarding the return of refugees to Burundi.
The M23 offensive on Uvira had sparked renewed tensions between Rwanda and Burundi, allies of Kinshasa, which deployed thousands of soldiers alongside the Congolese army in the eastern DRC.
Approximately 5,000 Burundian soldiers are still deployed in the mountainous plateaus of South Kivu, supporting Kinshasa’s forces confronting the M23 and allied militias, according to Burundian military sources.
AFP/VNA/CVN
