Crisis warning as 100 000 flee Burundi violence

MORE than 100 000 people from Burundi have fled to neighbouring countries since political violence that culminated in this week’s foiled coup bid erupted last month, the United Nations said yesterday.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Karin de Gruijl said nearly 70 200 people had fled to Tanzania, 26 300 to Rwanda and nearly 10 000 to the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The number was more than double the figure provided by UNHCR a week ago, with the number of refugees in Tanzania in particular showing a nearly four-fold rise since then.

The announcement came after an attempt to overthrow Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza ended in failure, with coup leaders detained or being forced to go on the run.

Burundian forces yesterday arrested the leader of the failed coup, President Nkurunziza’s spokesman said.

Major General Godefroid Niyombare was captured two days after announcing Nkurunziza had been overthrown, presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho said.

“He has been arrested. He didn’t surrender,” Abayeho said. Earlier, he had said three generals had been arrested but Nkurunziza was still on the run.

The country has been gripped by political crisis over Nkurunziza’s controversial bid to stand for re-election in June 26 polls.

De Gruijl said the increased unrest in the country had sent many fleeing to neighbouring Tanzania, which reopened its borders on May 4.

“In particular in Tanzania, numbers have risen very, very sharply over the last few days,” De Gruijl said, pointing to numbers from local immigration authorities saying more than 50 000 Burundians were “living rough” in the small village of Kagunga.

“There are also reports of at least 10 000 people waiting to cross the border into Tanzania,” she said.

UNHCR had begun noticing the sharp increase in the number of refugees fleeing into Tanzania on Wednesday.

The UN human rights office, meanwhile, expressed concern over the developments in Burundi over the past 48 hours.

“There is a clear risk that the instability may be prolonged or even made worse if there are violent reprisals in response to what happened over the last two days,” spokesman Rupert Colville said.

He warned that the “instability and intimidation of civilians could result in a major humanitarian crisis”. – AFP-Reuters