The Banyamulenge are a group of Tutsi living in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They are concentrated in the province of South Kivu close to the Burundi-Congo-Rwanda border. The ambiguous political position of the Banyamulenge contributed to the start of the First Congo War in 1996, the Second Congo War in 1998 and continues to a point of contention since 2003, when the Second Congo War officially ended. The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu. ... Sud-Kivu is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... The First Congo War was a conflict from late 1996 to 1997 in which Zairean President Mobutu Sésé Seko was eaten by rebel forces backed by foreign powers such as Uganda and Rwanda. ... Combatants Government-aligned forces, Hutu-aligned forces Uganda-aligned forces, Tutsi-aligned forces Commanders Government: Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Joseph Kabila Rwanda: Paul Kagame, Uganda: Yoweri Museveni, others Strength  ?  ? Casualties  ?  ? The Second Congo War was a conflict that took place largely in the territory of Democratic Republic of the Congo...

The people who became known as the Banyamulenge migrated gradually from Rwanda, Burundi, and western Tanzania over the course of the last few hundred years. Most came at the end of the 19th century, during the political tensions that accompanied Rwandan Mwami Rwabugiri's expansionist campaigns.

In 1996 the Rwandan government used the Banyamulenge citizenship issue as a cover for the Rwandan army's plan to destroy the refugee camps in eastern Congo that had hosted Rwandan Hutu who had fled after the genocide in July 1994.

In response to this perceived threat the Banyamulenge threw their support behind the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) efforts, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, to overthrow the government of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire. They formed militia groups to assist the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) and, when popular opinion turned against the foreign occupiers, to defend themselves against Mai-Mai groups fighting the foreign invaders or seeking to expel the Banyamulenge because of their perceived connection to Rwanda. The two Mai-Mai groups most active against the Banyamulenge are the Babembe and Barega militias. The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL) was a coalition of Congolese dissidents, disgruntled minority groups and nations that toppled President Mobutu Sese Seko and brought Laurent Kabila to power in the First Congo War (1996-1998). ... Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga (October 14, 1930 – September 7, 1997), known commonly as Mobutu, or Joseph Mobutu-Sese Seko, born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) for 32 years (1965 – 1997). ... Mai-Mai, also known as Mayi-Mayi, is a general term referring to a broad variety of Congolese militia groups active in the Second Congo War currently taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). ...

The various Banyamulenge militias and the Rwandan government forces are separate. In early 2002, there was extensive fighting on the Hauts Plateaux of South Kivu after Commandant Patrick Masunzu, an ethnic Munyamulenge in the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma) rebel movement, gathered Banyamulenge support in an uprising against the RCD-Goma leadership. Sud-Kivu is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ...

By 2000, the Banyamulenge were hemmed into the Hauts Plateaux by Congolese Mai-Mai, the Burundian FDD, and the Rwandan Hutu Armée de Libération du Rwanda (ALiR), and were unable to carry out basic economic activities without the security provided through the RCD-Goma. Numerous families fled to the relative safety of the Burundian capital of Bujumbura. Nevertheless, Banyamulenge make up much of the RCD military wing, the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC), and control the towns of Fizi, Uvira and Minembwe. The Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (French: Armée pour la Libération du Rwanda, ALiR) was a rebel group largely composed of members of the Interahamwe and Armed Forces of Rwanda that carried out the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. ... Bujumbura, estimated population 300,000 (1994), is the capital of Burundi. ... Uvira is a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at the north end of Lake Tanganyika. ...

In August 2004, 152 Banyamulenge refugees were massacred at a refugee camp in Gatumba, Burundi by unknown forces. Vice President Azarias Ruberwa, a Munyamulenge, suspended his participation in the transitional government for one week in protest, before being persuaded to return to Kinshasa by South African pressure. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Azarias Ruberwa is one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...