The United Nations refugee organisation UNHCR on Tuesday accused Burundi of breaching international conventions on refugees after the central African nation deported around 5 000 Rwandan refugees.
The UNHCR was responding to an operation by the governments of Burundi and Rwanda over the weekend that refugees from the other’s country would be considered ”illegal immigrants” who fled their country ”without good reasons” and would be repatriated immediately.
”UNHCR deeply regrets that, despite our repeated appeals for restraint …, the Burundian and Rwandan authorities pressed ahead with the return operation and denied us access,” the refugee organisation said in a statement.
Refugees in Burundi were taken from the transit centre of Songore in the country’s north on Sunday and Monday to Rwanda.
UNHCR’s Director for Africa David Lambo took issue with statements by Burundian authorities who claimed the refugees were returning voluntarily.
”The latest decision of the Burundian authorities to conduct a return operation of thousands of asylum seekers while denying UNHCR access to them puts into question the voluntary nature of the returns,” Lambo said.
According to the UNHCR, the Rwandan refugees at the centre fled to Burundi in March, due to fears concerning the traditional ”gacaca” trials into the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
The refugees listed threats, persecution and rumours of revenge acts as major concerns. -Sapa-dpa