U.S. Committee for Refugees Mid-Year Country Report 2001 - Burundi

Background

A civil war that began in the early-1990s has intensified in recent years, leaving more than 100,000 Burundians dead. Ethnic Hutu rebels continue to fight against the country's ethnic Tutsi-dominated government and military. Former South African President Nelson Mandela has attempted to mediate negotiations for peace.

At the beginning of 2001, more than a million Burundians were uprooted from their homes, including 400,000 Burundian refugees in neighboring countries and an estimated 600,000 internally displaced persons.

Political/Military/Human Rights Developments through September

Mandela announced in July that peace negotiations had produced agreement on a three-year transitional government in which Tutsi and Hutu leaders would share power beginning in November. Two main Hutu rebel groups did not participate in the agreement and vowed to continue fighting. Numerous Tutsi and Hutu political leaders criticized the accord, leaving many Burundians and international diplomats to doubt the depth of support for the agreement. Several African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, indicated a willingness to deploy peacekeeping troops to Burundi to help bolster the accord. Burundian officials debated how best to protect politicians returning from exile to participate in the transitional government.

Rebel attacks and ambushes gained strength during the first nine months of the year, particularly in southern, eastern, central, and western areas of Burundi. Rebels launched a strong attack on the outskirts of the capital, Bujumbura, in February. A rebel raid on the outskirts of the capital killed 12 government soldiers in September. A grenade attack in Bujumbura that same month killed four persons. Insurgent forces continued to attack near the country's third largest town, Rumonge, in the south. Banditry reportedly increased in Bujumbura, allegedly linked to discharged government soldiers.

Analysts expressed concern that a peace accord in neighboring Congo-Kinshasa was inadvertently pushing Burundian rebels from their bases in Congo-Kinshasa and into Burundi. The Burundian government continued to charge that Burundian rebels were using refugee camps in Tanzania as military bases, creating tensions between the two governments. Burundi's president warned of an "almost open state of war" along the Burundi-Tanzania border. A UN Security Council team lamented the "complexity and intractability" of the Burundian conflict.

New Uprooted Populations through September

An estimated 100,000 or more Burundians newly fled their homes during the first three-quarters of 2001.

Some 50,000 or more persons – primarily ethnic Hutu – temporarily fled when rebels attacked their neighborhood on the outskirts of Bujumbura in February. Some found shelter at designated sites in the capital, while others moved in with friends and family. Most families returned to their homes after several days or weeks.

Some 30,000 to 40,000 people reportedly fled clashes between rebels and government troops in the country's central provinces in April. About 15,000 residents of southeastern Burundi also fled their homes during the first three-quarters of the year, according to reports. Thousands of other new population displacements probably occurred but remained uncounted.

Humanitarian Conditions through September

General humanitarian conditions remained bad during the first nine months of 2001. Economic conditions in the capital continued to deteriorate, fueling increased crime. In rural areas, local harvests were as small as 5 percent of pre-war levels because of poor rains, population displacement, and insecurity.

Burundi faced an expected cereal food deficit of 178,000 tons for the year. Malnutrition increased in at least two provinces. Child death rates climbed to five deaths per day per 10,000 children in a northern province where food shortages were particularly acute. The number of children enrolled in supplementary and therapeutic feeding centers nationwide more than doubled from late 2000 to March 2001. Deliveries of international food aid to Burundian refugees in neighboring Tanzania declined by 20 percent.

UN humanitarian agencies appealed to international donors for $102 million to assist Burundians in 2001. Only about $16 million had been donated by May. The funding shortfall, combined with security problems, left "urgent" needs unaddressed for health care, drinking water, and nutrition, UN aid officials warned. Aid agencies had whole or partial access to only 70 percent of the country because of security concerns. Ambushes left one relief worker dead, four wounded, and nine aid workers taken hostage during April to June.

An estimated 600,000 Burundians were believed to be internally displaced as of September 2001. This included some 380,000 at 210 displacement sites, plus approximately 200,000 other displaced persons who lived with friends, families, or on their own beyond the reach of aid programs. "The country is facing one of the most acute problems of population displacement in Africa today," a top UN humanitarian official stated in June. A Burundian health official expressed concern that crowded displacement camps had become breeding grounds for HIV infections because of rapes and a breakdown of family structures. The UN Development Program announced a new program in September to build ten schools and provide housing for 700 families in three relatively quiet provinces.

Tanzanian government officials made statements that appeared to threaten a forced repatriation of all Burundian refugees currently in Tanzania. Tanzanian officials later clarified that they would not force Burundian refugees to repatriate even though they considered the large refugee population to be a burden to Tanzania.