Bujumbura carried out its threat to expel Rwandan nationals from its territory. Last Wednesday, the country announced the closure of all land borders with Rwanda indefinitely, which authorities said was due to “the poor neighborliness of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.” Following this announcement, Gitega quickly took this action.
Published on: January 14, 2024 – 11:15 p.m
1 minute
It is currently not possible to accurately quantify the number of Rwandan nationals expelled from Burundian soil since Wednesday, as the Burundian government has so far refused to communicate on this issue. But the NGO SOS Torture/Burundi speaks of around thirty of these nationals who were handed over to the Rwandan authorities on Thursday and Friday Crossing borders from Ruhwa, in Cibitoke Province, in the northwest of the country.
About forty other people arrested by Imbonerakure, members of the ruling party's youth league, were still in the dungeons of Mugina township in the same Cibitoke province yesterday morning, awaiting expulsion, the same source also reported.
Still others have been arrested in many other provinces and are reportedly currently being repatriated to Rwanda. But is it just a coincidence? Burundian Interior Minister Martin Niteretse announced on Wednesday that this work would be facilitated through the use of lists of foreigners living in Burundi that had just been drawn up by provincial governors, according to the SOS Burundi Médias newspaper. Officially, all of these arrested Rwandans are “irregulars,” but according to our sources, several cases of ill-treatment have been reported, particularly in rural areas.
Reaction from Kigali: Deputy government spokesman Alain Mucularinda urged Rwandans to avoid a country “where we are not wanted,” he said, assuring Burundians living in Rwanda that they could continue to go about their business without fear.
Also read: Burundi closes its land borders with neighboring Rwanda indefinitely