LETTER FROM BUKAVU
Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo demonstrate in Nairobi, Kenya, May 17, 2019 to seek protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
Sascha (all first names of the witnesses quoted have been changed) has been living in a storage room for a little over six months. His mattress, which he lays on the muddy ground when it rains, leans against the shelves of Primus, the most popular beer in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A “little brother”, a bar owner, allowed her to move into the back room. “In return, I help for the ministry, but I’m scared. I’m not safe here,” explains the young woman. The most recent threats date back to early January. A drunk soldier publicly yelled, “You’re a lesbian, you can’t live here!” »
Sitting at the back of the room, where a dozen plastic chairs and tables are scattered, Sasha watches the customers come and go. The TV volume is high, drowning out his voice from prying ears. “I’m telling you?” she asks in Swahili, the language spoken in the region. The 30-year-old starts and leaves no detail of the story that made her an activist for the gay cause in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Against his will .
The kiss too much
To commemorate the sweet evening of Valentine’s Day in 2022, “my friend Nathalie posted a story about us on TikTok,” says the one who usually kept her love stories secret. In one of the videos, the two women kiss on the corners of their lips. It’s the kiss too many that ignites the web. The SMS or anonymous calls quickly multiply and Sasha has to change the number. “Even my close friends were insulted on social media,” she says, surprised.
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But the nightmare doesn’t end there. Rejecting the couple, several Congolese agents from the General Directorate for Migration begin what Sasha describes as “harassment.” They first show the photos to his family, who knew nothing of his sexual orientation. “I was evicted from my home and my neighborhood,” says the waitress, who is originally from Bukavu, a Congolese town on the border with Rwanda.
Then the same police officers attack Nathalie, who has Rwandan nationality but lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “One day she crossed the border to visit her sister on the Rwandan side. When she wanted to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese customs confiscated her papers and she had to turn back. A few months later she tried again to enter the country with new papers. But once again it was impossible because they told him homosexuality was illegal in the DRC,” Sasha continues.
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