Myanmar’s election is unlikely to change the reality for more than 1M Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who fled what the UN called ‘genocidal violence’ in Myanmar. Efforts to repatriate the Muslim minority have stalled since the junta seized power in 2021. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Cox’s Bazar.
Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025
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UN refugee agency says women and children arriving ‘exhausted and severely traumatised’ after fleeing eastern DRC.
More than 84,000 people have fled to Burundi from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid a Rwanda-backed rebel offensive near the countries’ shared border, according to the latest United Nations figures.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that Burundi had reached a “critical point” amid the influx of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing a surge in violence in the DRC’s South Kivu province.
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“Thousands of people crossing the border on foot and by boats each day have overwhelmed local resources, creating a major humanitarian emergency that requires immediate global support,” UNHCR said, noting that more than 200,000 people had now sought refuge in Burundi.
“Women and children are particularly affected, arriving exhausted and severely traumatised, bearing the physical and psychological marks of terrifying violence. Our teams met pregnant women, who shared that they had not eaten in days.”
The exodus began in early December when the M23 rebel group launched an assault that culminated in the capture of Uvira, a strategic city in the eastern DRC that is home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Refugees started crossing into Burundi on December 5, with numbers surging after M23 seized control of Uvira on December 10. On Wednesday, M23 said it was withdrawing after international condemnation of its attack on the city.
In Burundi, displaced families face difficult conditions at transit points and makeshift camps with minimal infrastructure, the UN said.
Many have sheltered under trees without adequate protection from the elements, and a lack of clean water and proper sanitation.
About half of those displaced are children less than the age of 18, along with numerous women, including some who are pregnant.
Ezechiel Nibigira, the Burundian president of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), reported 25,000 refugees in Gatumba in western Burundi, and nearly 40,000 in Buganda in the northwest, most of them “completely destitute”.
Augustin Minani, the administrator in Rumonge, told the AFP news agency that the situation was “catastrophic” and said “the vast majority are dying of hunger.”
Refugees recounted witnessing bombings and artillery fire, with some seeing relatives killed and others forced to abandon elderly family members who could not continue the journey.
M23 announced earlier this week it would begin withdrawing from Uvira, with the group’s leadership calling the move a “trust-building measure” to support United States- and Qatari-led peace efforts.
However, the Congolese Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya dismissed the announcement as a “diversion”, alleging it was meant to relieve pressure on Rwanda.
Local sources reported that M23 police and intelligence personnel remained deployed in the city on Thursday.
The offensive extended M23’s territorial gains this year after the group captured the major cities of Goma in January and Bukavu in February.
The rebel advance has given M23 control over substantial territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC and severed a critical supply route for Congolese forces along the border with Burundi.
M23 launched the Uvira offensive less than a week after the presidents of the DRC and Rwanda met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, to reaffirm their commitment to a peace agreement.
The rebels’ takeover of the city drew sharp criticism from Washington, with officials warning of consequences for what they described as Rwanda’s violation of the accord. Rwanda denies backing M23.
The fighting has killed more than 400 civilians in the DRC and displaced more than 200,000 since early December, according to regional officials and humanitarian organisations.
The broader conflict across the eastern part of the country, where more than 100 armed groups operate, has displaced more than seven million people, the UN refugee agency says.
Winter storms are worsening conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, as aid agencies warn that Israeli restrictions are preventing lifesaving shelter assistance from reaching people across the besieged enclave.
The United Nations has said it has tents, blankets and other essential supplies ready to enter Gaza, but that Israeli authorities continue to block or restrict access through border crossings.
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In Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp, the roof of a war-damaged family home collapsed during the storm, rescue workers said on Wednesday. Six Palestinians, including two children, were pulled alive from the rubble.
It comes after Gaza’s Ministry of Health said a two-week-old Palestinian infant froze to death, highlighting the risks faced by young and elderly people living in inadequate shelters.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the storms had damaged or destroyed shelters and personal belongings across the territory.
“The disruption has affected approximately 30,000 children across Gaza. Urgent repairs are needed to ensure these activities can resume without delay,” Farhan Haq said.
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza added in a statement that “what we are experiencing now in the Gaza Strip is a true humanitarian catastrophe”.
The worsening humanitarian situation comes as Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani held talks in Washington, DC, with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on efforts to stabilise the tenuous ceasefire in Gaza.
According to Qatari officials, the talks focused on Qatar’s role as a mediator, the urgent need for aid to enter Gaza, and moving negotiations towards the second stage of a US-backed plan to end Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said Sheikh Mohammed stressed that humanitarian assistance must be allowed into Gaza “unconditionally”.
“He said aid has to be taken into Gaza unconditionally, clearly making reference to the fact that a number of aid agencies have said that Israel is blocking the access to aid for millions of people in Gaza,” Fisher said.
The Qatari prime minister also discussed the possibility of an international stabilisation force to be deployed in Gaza after the war, saying such a force should act impartially.
“There has been a lot of talk in the US over the past couple of weeks about how this force would work towards the disarmament of Hamas,” Fisher said.
Sheikh Mohammed also called for swift progress towards the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
“He said that stage two of the ceasefire deal has to be moved to pretty quickly,” Fisher said, adding that US officials were hoping to announce early in the new year which countries would contribute troops to a stabilisation force.
Meanwhile, violence continued in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with at least 11 Palestinians wounded in Israeli attacks in central Gaza City, according to medical sources.
The Israeli army said it is investigating after a mortar shell fired near Gaza’s so-called yellow line “missed its target”.
Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza reported Israeli artillery shelling east of the southern city of Khan Younis. Medical sources said Israeli gunfire also wounded two people in the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City.
In the occupied West Bank, where Israeli military and settler attacks have escalated in recent days, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops shot and wounded a man in his 20s in the foot in Qalqilya. He was taken to hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.
Since October 2023, at least 70,668 Palestinians have been killed and 171,152 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. In Israel, 1,139 people were killed during the Hamas-led October 7 attack, and more than 200 others were taken captive.