Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2025
I met Kilalo, then ninety years old, for the first time in 2010. He lived – and was later buried – in one of the villages that make up Monigi. Back then, it was close to the city, but still Goma’s rural hinterland. Since that time, the city of Goma has been rapidly encroaching on Monigi, as recurrent waves of violence have brought ever more people to the city in search of refuge. From the entrance of Kilalo’s small house, Rwanda was always visible, even if during the dry season the dust in the air only revealed the contours of its first hills. During one of our first conversations, he told me: “When my friend from Rwanda comes here, and I have a piece of land, why not give it to him? Like today, the Congolese refugees who are in Rwanda, they also went without UNHCR [UN’s Refugee Agency].”
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