focus | experiences
Life in a refugee camp
An interview with Fr Martin Iyamuremye
The Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa's largest countries, has been marked by years-long internal and external conflict. Known for its mineral wealth crucial to the electronics industry, several areas are disputed by other countries. This is the case in the Northeast, in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu region, an area so beautiful that it is called the "African Switzerland". The city of Goma, with a population of about 750,000 inhabitants, is also home to more than 4 million refugees and that number continues to rise as war resurges in recent months.
We met Fr Martin Iyamuremye on the outskirts of Goma, in Congo, after a journey marked by the shocking reality of thousands of tiny shacks, like piles of dusty rags discarded on the black lava earth, that had been destroyed by the bombs and earthquakes of recent years.
Fr Martin, a priest in the diocese of Goma, was ordained in 2009 and has held various pastoral positions, first as parochial vicar and then a parish priest. He was also rector of the diocesan preparatory seminary, before his assignment to Saint Therese of the Little Child Jesus parish in Kanyaruchinya/Goma. A few months after his arrival, this same parish would have the role of welcoming displaced people coming from north of the city.
Entering the rectory was no easy task given the multitude of people arriving to celebrate and congregate among the incoming cars. After all, the word "enter" would be a euphemism, because even the rectory itself is located amid shacks, and there is no real entrance gate.
Father Martin welcomed us with a smile, offering fresh water, and calmly answered the many questions we had hoped to ask, but were also ashamed to formulate, especially regarding the poverty of the local surroundings.
Our first question was directed to him:
What is it for you to live in a camp for displaced people?
Life here is not easy to describe, you must experience it firsthand to understand. Conditions are subhuman. A two-meter by two-meter hut covered with straw or mosquito nets accommodates a family of eight, including two parents and six children of both sexes. Very young children are exposed to the cold and lack warm clothes or shoes, and there is little schooling... This is the life that surrounds me in this newly created parish, in 2020. It is a human catastrophe.
The parish priest is the only point of reference in this context, the last resort. Even if the parish priest himself is living in very difficult circumstances, he must find a satisfactory, if not convincing, answer at all costs. And in fact, the first providence is precisely the same parish area itself, overflowing with people right up to the church sacristy door and the presbytery.
The second providence is the spontaneity with which some people of good will, moved by the Gospel, understood the urgency of intervening to help those most in need, as they arrived in camps for displaced persons. Help is being given by individuals, diocesan Catholic Action groups, and humanitarian organizations.
What does it mean to carry out pastoral work in a refugee camp?
It is certainly not easy. However, I thank the Lord for the physical and spiritual energies with which he has filled me. The greatest challenge was to find myself in front of a mass of people whose parish priest I had been before they left their original communities, and who now meet me again as displaced people in this young parish.
A bitter realization is that, due to the precariousness of life in refugee camps, some are experiencing a spiritual crisis, to the point of abandoning their faith. On the other hand, there are also those who believe God is their only and last resort. In fact, in this period of crisis and precariousness of life, many displaced people have returned to the sacraments. In three different time spans of three months each, more than eighty couples convalidated their marriages, a surprising number compared to the frequency in normal times of stability.
Overall, the most powerful witness remains the presence of the Church in the camps. And this, even if it gives joy, is not easy.
Is there any glimmer of hope in a situation like this?
War is never a good thing. It destroys many things. However, we have the hope that when everything collapses, only God and His Love remain. I have been here for three years in the service of parishioners and displaced people. I recently received a new assignment as head of suburban schools in the territory of Masisi, outside Goma. Even this new parish - 85 kilometers from here -- will be surrounded by displaced people who survive, thanks to never-failing divine providence.
Note: Conflicts between Congolese government forces and the M23 militia have intensified since the killing of General Peter Cirimwami, governor of North Kivu province on January 25, 2025. Fr Martin had to flee his new parish and take refuge again in Goma, where the armed rebel group M23 has now overtaken the city.
Interview by Maria do Sameiro Freitas