“They raped and killed her
[my mother]
before my eyes
and they raped me too.”
Idaya, a 39-year-old asylum-seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), vividly remembers the night her father woke everyone up shouting that they had to leave their village immediately as the rebels were approaching. "I remember it was early in the morning. The rebels came to our house, knocked, and demanded money from my mother. They raped and killed her before my eyes, and they raped me too," recalls Idaya.
Idaya and her family were forced to escape from the DRC, but she later became separated from them. When she arrived in Burundi, she sought assistance from UNHCR and was taken to a refugee camp, where she was provided with medical aid, food and counselling.
39-YEAR-OLD ASYLUM- SEEKER FROM THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
115
November 2023 | Collective Action Magazine
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease