Former refugee Jerome Rugaruza looks to Kingaroy to provide new life for Congolese people fleeing crisis

A former Congolese refugee who escaped his war-torn homeland to reach Australia hopes the Kingaroy community will be a safe haven for more people from his persecuted tribe. Read his incredible story of survival:

Decades after first staring at a photo of a kangaroo hanging in his tent in an African refugee camp and longing to build a home in a country free from bloodshed, Jerome Rugaruza has finally found a home in Australia and hopes the Kingaroy community will help other refugees do the same.

Mr Rugaruza’s journey to asylum began when his Banyamulenge community were ordered out of the Democratic Republic of Congo as tensions from the 1994 Rwandan genocide bled across the border.

The Banyamulenge is a Tutsi tribe that has lived in the east of the DRC for more than a century but remains unrecognised by the government, having long been treated as unwanted citizens and according to Genocide Watch faced a “slow genocide” since 2017.

Mr Rugaruza said his father helped him escape across the border with a small amount of money in 1994, but did not know when he left that it would be the last time he saw his dad.

His father was one of many of his friends, colleagues, and former school peers murdered by former Congolese president Mobutu’s government soldiers during the devastating conflict.

Jerome Rugaruza photographed with his family. Photo/Jerome Rugaruza

Mr Rugaruza said many of the men and boys in particular were tricked by soldiers, who offered to take them by boat to Rwanda only to drown them in Lake Tanganyika.

“I crossed the border to Rwanda and stayed in a refugee camp for five years, but the conditions were not good. I decided to go to Kenya where I stayed in another camp for 10 more years,” Mr Rugaruza said.

“A refugee camp is a bottomless pit of despair. A place of hopelessness and where there is no future for yourself or your family.

“There is nothing to do but sit and eat expired food. There’s not much of it and it’s old.

“The situation is not good.”

Jerome Rugaruza and Alexis Chabakuru grew up in the same rural Congolese village of Kihuha Kwa Roy. Photo/Jerome Rugaruza

After spending 15 years in refugee camps, Mr Rugaruza arrived in Newcastle in 2009 where he founded not-for-profit organisation Global Alliance For Peace to “bridge the gap between misery and a better life” for refugees.

He says he now hopes to help more members of his persecuted tribe seek refuge, starting with his dear friend Alexis Chabakuru, who is currently in a Kenyan refugee camp with his wife Jolie Nabahiga and their four children.

Kihuha Kwa Roy Village is one of hundreds Banyamulenge villages reduced to ashes by armed militias. Photo/Jerome Rugaruza

Mr Rugaruza has applied to sponsor the family under the Federal Government’s humanitarian Community Support Program (CSP) immigration scheme, with Alexis preparing to settle in the South Burnett after 22 years of life in refugee camps.

“When the militia attacked Alexis’s village, he fled in the fire and smoke without knowing where to go,” he said.

“All you hear are people grieving but can’t see anything.”

Alexis Chabakuru and his wife Jolie Nabahiga and their four children in Kenya. Photo/Jerome Rugaruza

An arduous week-long journey took Alexis to a refugee camp in Burundi, where he barely escaped with his life after more than 150 Congolese civilians were shot and burned to death by a predominantly Hutu Burundian rebel movement in 2004.

Mr Rugaruza said victims of the infamous massacre were still waiting for justice and compensation.

“Before they start burning the camp they put petrol around it, so by the time they start shooting, the fire would be there and the refugees cannot escape,” he said.

Now awaiting his journey to Australia after more than two decades in refugee camps, Alexis has told his lifelong friend he “still doesn’t believe this is coming true”.

Mr Rugaruza said he had already paid $67,000 to arrange visas and medical checks for his friend and his family, but needed another $12,000 to fund their airfares, accommodation, and schooling.

He said several employers in Kingaroy had already offered to set up Alexis with a job when he reached the town.

Alexis Chabakuru and his wife Jolie Nabahiga and their four children. Photo/Jerome Rugaruza

After spending three weeks in Kingaroy hosted by three different families, Mr Rugaruza fell in love with the peanut capital and believes it has the potential to help more Congolese people suffering persecution to settle in Australia.

“The goal is to raise enough money to build an urubunga,” he said.

“In our village this was a welcome house for visitors. People would spend time here after work and relax.”

Mr Rugaruza said he wanted to build the urubunga in the former Kingaroy Hospital site and be able to host newly-arrived refugee families while they search for work and accommodation in the area.

“I want it to be a place where people can learn about our culture and show the people of Kingaroy how life used to be in Africa. We can show you how we cook, how we dress, and our music,” he said.

“And children who left at an early age can get an idea of what home is like.”

If you would like to help Jerome, please contact the St John’s Lutheran congregation chairman Rodney Patch at [e-mail].

Originally published as Former refugee Jerome Rugaruza looks to Kingaroy to provide new life for Congolese people fleeing crisis