At least five Congolese refugees were shot dead and 20 others were injured on Thursday in western Rwanda, the police has said.

About 2,000 refugees from Kiziba settlement in Karongi district had marched out of the camp to protest against reduced food rations by the UN agency, World Food Programme (WFP), on Tuesday.

Despite a scuffle with Rwandan soldiers where some of the refugees are said to have been shot at and wounded, they walked to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, offices some 15km from their Kiziba camp where they have been camping.

On Thursday, police tried to disperse them using teargas, a situation which quickly turned chaotic.

Confirming the incident, Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson Theos Badege accused the refugees of pelting officers with stones and sharp objects.

The police said that the officials from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs, the UNHCR, and local leaders urged the protesters to return to their camp as their grievances were being looked into.

“However, these calls were met with strong resistance that turned violent. Refugees armed with sharp objects (stones, sticks and metal pieces) began to assault police officers, who then used teargas to disperse the unacceptable riots and secure the nearby community,” RNP said.

“When the attacks persisted, we used proportional force that left 20 rioters and 7 police officers injured. They were rushed to hospital, 5 rioters unfortunately succumbed to their wounds and 15 arrested for illegal demonstration, taking hostage and inciting violence,” the police said on its Twitter account.

One of the refugees, who identified himself as Fiston Munyaburanga, told The EastAfrican that they would continue to fight for their rights or be facilitated to return home.

“We are hungry. We cannot continue to die of hunger inside the camps. We would rather go home,” Mr Mumyaburanga said.

The Kiziba camp hosts 17,000 Congolese refugees.

Rwanda houses more than 173,000 refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi in six camps in the country of whom over 100,000 are Congolese.

Following the Tuesday protests, UNHCR Wednesday urged Rwandan authorities to exercise restraint while also cautioning refugees against making uninformed decisions on repatriation "out of desperation".

UNHCR said humanitarian assistance in Rwanda remains "severely underfunded" which led to the decision by WFP to reduce food assistance by 10 per cent in November last year and by 25 per cent in January.

The agency said its 2018 appeal for $98.8 million to support refugees in Rwanda is only is two per cent funded, while WFP warned of more food ration cuts if its $2.5 million monthly spend is not met.