I Was Terrified: Refugees Who Fled Drc To Burundi Recall Deadly River Crossing

People tell of family members being swept away in desperate attempts to escape the advance of the M23 rebel group Atosha winced as she recalled the 15 minutes she spent in the fast-flowing Rusizi River, which separates the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Burundi, on a Friday night in late February. I was terrified, the 23-year-old said of her journey of about 130 metres, spent clinging to a makeshift float alongside a young man whom she had paid to take her to the Burundian side. It was my first time crossing that river and I had no option.