Burundi: The repatriation of refugees continues, but the power of Gitega does not disarm in the disruption of the Mahama camp
Rwanda is said to be the country which respects the rights of refugees more than any other state in the sub-region. It is a country that manages to ensure the safety of refugees, its perfect collaboration with the UNHCR means that these refugees are regularly assisted while in other countries; refugees are sometimes deprived of everything to force them to return. The case of Tanzania is very obvious. Rwanda recommends voluntary return through officially known channels. And that’s what is being done, with all due respect to those who think they are clever in wanting to exert some pressure.
The repatriation of Burundian refugees is in its fourth turn. 493 refugees from Mahama camp, 161 urban refugees, not to mention Burundians who were stranded in Rwanda following the covid 19 pandemic, are returning to Burundi on October 01, 2020 via the Gasenyi Nemba border. The latter must pay $ 50 to be tested for Covid 19 and 8000frwa for a transport ticket to the border with Burundi.
These Burundians are returning home as armed groups have disrupted the country since August 23, 2020. President Ndayishimiye called them armed bandits, adding that a rebellion should start by attacking the presidency and conquering at least one commune in the country. This return also comes at a time when everywhere in the country and especially in Kirundo (where we observe a large number of those who are registered on the lists of repatriates), the national representative of the imbonerakure militia, Sylvestre Ndayizeye, is in the process of ‘activate imbonerakure to keep a watchful eye on returnees, especially those returning from Rwanda. The ruling military clique fears they will join the ranks of armed groups. We will not ignore the fact that all those who allegedly participated in the 2015 protests should be careful because the National Intelligence Service has their photos and is prepared to apprehend them sooner or later. Everyone has to choose
According to informed sources, the acceleration of the repatriation of refugees from Mahama camp is not done out of love; the power of Gitega has a macabre plan for this camp (we will come back to this).
During the first round of repatriation, on August 27, 2020, a certain Hatungimana Celeus, number two on the list of signatories of the famous petition that certain refugees addressed to President Ndayishimiye asking him to facilitate their repatriation (in violation of the law because the normal procedure is to go through the UNHCR and the host government), launched a sentence saying goodbye to Rwanda: ” Ndagiye ariko nsize ba Celeus 105 ”, which would translate: I am leaving, but leaving behind 105 other refugees who look like me. ” Remember that this group of the 05 signatories of the petition, manipulated by the power of Gitega, had tried to revolt the other refugees to sow disorder in the camp, but the authorities and the UNHCR handled the situation with intelligence and wisdom because their objective was known.
To say that there are still 105 Celeus left means that there are teams, unmanned by the military clique in power in Burundi, who have the mission of convincing people to return, but also, and this within the limits of possible, which should sow disorder in the camp and which would even manage to provoke those who ensure the security of the camp to arouse any bad reaction from them and to jump at the opportunity to tarnish the image of Rwanda. Some of them are said to be already caught in possession of the sharpened reinforcing bars in the camp when there is no construction going on inside the camp. Others, with nameless arrogance, are not afraid to say that they will not leave the camp “badakoze ibara” = «without committing a crime “. Who were apprehended with these reinforcing bars? Where did they find these irons? How did they get them in? We will come back to this in detail.
We recall that the refugees who are in Rwanda as elsewhere are in three main groups: There are some who escaped the criminals of the cnddfdd system who wanted to kill them, simply for demonstrating peacefully against the illegal third term of the late Nkurunziza in 2015; the second category includes people who fled out of fear or took advantage of this current to cross borders and look for green grass elsewhere (some say they fled famine); the last category is made up of people sent by the cnddfdd power just to become refugees and to follow closely everything that is done in the camp or wherever the Burundian refugees are and to provide information.
Those who register for voluntary repatriation are largely those in the second and third category.
The team of Gervais Ndirakobuca alias Ndakugarika who is in charge of this repatriation keeps telling anyone who wants to listen that their repatriation must be speeded up; she describes as “intagondwa” (the irresistible ones) those of the first category. When the latter remain alone in the camp, the military clique envisages another form of disruption of their security. (We will come back to this later)
URN HITAMWONEZA calls on UNHCR and the Rwandan Government to closely monitor the situation of Burundian refugees in Mahama and to take preventive measures to avoid the disorder sponsored by Gitega’s power. To the Burundian refugees who are not yet ready to return because they do not yet feel safe in Burundians, to remain united and serene, to denounce any act of these corrupt people tending to undermine your unity and disrupt your security so that they are treated at the height of their actions.