26 June 2025
In Burundi, the Luxembourg Red Cross is helping returnees from Tanzania and Rwanda to find accommodation. In 2024, its humanitarian teams built 197 sustainable houses and rehabilitated 100 others to house returnees and vulnerable hosts.
Discover the stories of the families we help!
Emmanuel, 26, his wife Niyomukiza and their three children are what are known as ‘climate refugees’.
In 2017, they fled from Burundi to neighbouring Rwanda because droughts made it impossible to grow enough food to eat. After spending 5 years in a UN refugee camp, they returned to their home country and were housed in a small house with a tarpaulin roof.
The Red Cross helped them to build a more durable shelter to restart their lives.
Evariste, 31, lives with his wife Elda, 22, their three-year-old son and their infant son.
Having taken refuge in Tanzania during the drought that hit Kirundo province and then repatriated in 2022, they were living in a hut that was ready to collapse. Although the construction work is not yet complete, Evariste is grateful to the Red Cross for saving his family from this deplorable situation.
Fabiola, 26, and her husband Pierre, 29, have three children, including a little boy with a psychomotor disability.
Repatriated from Tanzania more than two years ago, the straw roof of their house was leaking water. Unable to afford to renovate the roof, they received help from the Red Cross for the work.
Gervais, 67, and Thérèse, 64, live with three of their grandchildren.
Despite their age, they had fled because of the drought. When they returned after more than 4 years as refugees, the house they had left had collapsed and they were forced to live in a makeshift hut. This precious support from the Red Cross saved them from a miserable situation.
