U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants World Refugee Survey 2005 - Burundi

Refoulement/Asylum  There were no reported incidents of refoulement. In June, however, the Government closed several border crossing points when many refugees began fleeing renewed fighting in the South Kivu region of the Congo-Kinshasa. The Government stated that it was preventing the Interahamwe and other armed groups from entering the country. Eventually it granted prima facie refugee status to about 20,700. Burundi's 2004 Transitional Constitution recognizes the right to asylum.

Following the August 13 massacre of more than 150 Congolese Tutsi refugees at Gatumba transit camp, some refugees reported that government authorities and refugee leaders forced refugees to return to Congo-Kinshasa. The Government denied this, stating that the refugees were free to stay. About 2,200 refugees returned to Congo-Kinshasa in September and October even while South Kivu remained insecure. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did not assist these returns, deeming conditions unsafe. The Congolese military detained those who tried to return at the border, and angry mobs stoned them.

Burundi did not recognize as prima facie refugees those arriving in urban areas, but required individual status determinations and denied status to 780 Congolese who had opposed its decision to relocate them to Gasorwe camp in 2003. Eventually, it agreed to reconsider their cases but did not for those who were still in the urban transit site, Ngagara. The Government granted UNHCR an observer role for these hearings but often did not notify the agency of hearings.

Detention  There were no reports that the Government detained or otherwise punished refugees or asylum seekers for illegal entry. The Government said it would issue identity documents to refugees in camps and urban areas and 3-month renewable permits to asylum seekers with pending claims, but generally did not. The 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (Arusha Accord) forbade arrest of refugees without notification and justification to its Implementation Monitoring Committee. Refugees had access to courts, pursuant to the Constitution but the judiciary was highly dependent on the executive branch, dominated by members of the minority Tutsi community, and subject to corruption.

Right to Earn a Livelihood  Burundi maintained a reservation to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees' (1951 Convention) provisions exempting refugees from labor market restrictions and granting them the most favorable treatment accorded to foreign nationals. The Government did not prevent refugees from working in the informal sector, but required refugees to obtain permits for professional jobs, selling goods in markets, and formal jobs. Insecurity made it difficult for many to work or farm. Land rights remained a contentious issue, and the Government lacked an effective process to reconcile the property rights of returnees with those of present occupants. Security and rebel forces harassed refugees and nationals and extorted services and free labor from them.

Freedom of Movement and Residence  The Government did not restrict refugees' movement or choice of residence. Burundi maintained a reservation to the 1951 Convention restricting refugees from living near the border with their country of origin. Competition for land between present occupants, Burundian refugee returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) made it difficult for refugees to live outside camps and find adequate shelter without risking harassment or attack. The Government imposed curfews on refugees and nationals in response to ongoing conflict in many regions. About 7,000 refugees resided in camps. About 21,000 others lived in Bujumbura and other urban regions. The Government issued 10 international travel documents to refugees.

Public Relief and Education  UNHCR and aid agencies provided refugees living in Gihinga and Gasorwe camps with basic assistance, healthcare, housing, and primary education. The Arusha Accord mandated that the Government allow humanitarian assistance for refugees. Continuing instability in Burundi, particularly the attack on the Gatumba transit camp and in the area of Bujumbura Rural, seriously disrupted aid delivery and relocation of refugees to other camps. Security forces sometimes restricted agencies' access in Bujumbura Rural. In Bujumbura, about 40 percent of urban refugee children attended public schools. Burundi maintained a reservation to the 1951 Convention's right to primary education on par with nationals.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)  Improving conditions enabled tens of thousands of IDPs, particularly in the southern provinces of Makamba and Bururi, to return to their homes, reducing the number of IDPs to about 145,000. But continued fighting, primarily in Bujumbura Rural, displaced 30,000 to 40,000 persons each month and up to 80,000 in February and March. IDPs lived in 170 camps or communes with about two-thirds in the provinces of Makamba, Gitega, Kayanza and Bujumbura Rural. Late in the year, due to continued fighting, the Government relocated 25,000 civilians from Bujumbura Rural and Bururi to an IDP site in Kabezi commune and restricted their return until December. Otherwise, the Government did not restrict IDPs' freedom of movement or right to work.

The Arusha Accord required the Government to allow humanitarian aid to IDPs and guaranteed returnees the right to their property. The Ministry of Resettlement and Reintegration of IDP and Repatriates and the National Commission for the Reintegration of Disaster-affected People (CNRS) were responsible for assisting refugees and IDPs but could not offer many IDPs food, supplies, or assistance. Only about 18 percent of IDP returnees received the standard three-month return aid package. In Bujumbura Rural, government and rebel forces regularly looted IDPs of their assistance packages, forcing aid agencies to suspend delivery. Insecurity prevented many Burundian refugees from returning to their homes. An outbreak of cholera struck the Kabezi camp housing 30,000 people. Thirty percent of IDP camps did not have health facilities.

The Government's official policy allowed IDPs to resettle and did not require them to return. In Gitega, however, officials pushed return, and in Ruyigi officials denied the presence of IDPs altogether. Documentation and identification for IDPs was not a problem, as most relocated to sites near their homes. IDPs' voted in elections without hindrance.

Other Developments  In March 2005, more than 800 Burundians from Ngozi, Kirundo, and Muyinga provinces left for Rwanda, citing fears of violence.

Copyright 2005, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants