30 juni 2016
Vandaag eerst een overzicht van een aantal publicaties van OCHA over Burundi in de afgelopen maand, en daarna enkele berichten van bekenden en van de Nederlandse overheid.
Formulering van OCHA zelf:
OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
OCHA’s mission is to:
• Mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies.
• Advocate the rights of people in need.
• Promote preparedness and prevention.
• Facilitate sustainable solutions.
3 juni 2016 OCHA
Key highlights Burundi
•265,175 refugees have fled Burundi since April 2015
•101,000 people are internally displaced
•4.6 million people are food insecure of which 590,170 are severely food insecure
•150,000 children under five years old are malnourished (50,000 SAM and 100,000 MAM)
•3.4 million malaria cases documented between January and April 2016
•The Humanitarian Response Plan is currently 29 per cent funded ($18.3 million out of $62.3 million received)
•The Regional Refugee Response Plan is currently 27 per cent funded ($84.9 million out of $313.9 million received)
3 juni 2016 OCHA
The UN is ending the involvement of police units from Burundi in the Central African Republic.
This follows what the UN describes as “serious and ongoing human rights violations.”
3 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi police shoot at students protesting against colleagues’ arrest
Police in Burundi shot and wounded a student and a taxi-driver on Friday during a protest by schoolchildren against the arrest of their colleagues for defacing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s portrait, students and residents said.
3 juni 2016 OCHA
Schoolchildren arrested in Burundi for defacing pictures of President Pierre Nkurunziza
Eleven high school students in a city in central Burundi were detained and charged on Friday with defacing a photo of President Pierre Nkurunziza, a police official said, as three people were shot and injured in a protest at the arrests.
6 juni 2016 OCHA
11 students jailed for doodling president’s photo
Eleven secondary school students were put in jail in Burundi for scribbling on photos of President Pierre Nkurunziza, parents and a government official said.
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/32163796/burundi-11-students-jailed-for-doodling-presidents-photo
6 juni 2016 OCHA
Ex Tanzania leader in fresh bid to end Burundi strife
A former Tanzanian president mediating talks to end Burundi’s deadly crisis will meet the opposition this weekend in a bid to end the deadlock, diplomatic and opposition sources said Tuesday. Benjamin Mkapa is to hold talks in Brussels with members of CNARED, which groups almost all opposition parties, they said.
6 juni 2016 OCHA
Radio reporter freed but climate still hostile for media in Burundi
Local sources said Ndayisenga was arrested in the northern province of Cibitoke on 5 June for providing information to Burundian journalists based outside the country and because the authorities regarded his movements in the province as strange. The authorities gave no official explanation for either his arrest or his release.
6 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi Journalist Arrested, Feared Tortured, Radio Says
A Burundian journalist has been arrested by the country’s National Intelligence Service, and some fear he is being tortured, the director of an independent radio station said Monday. Egide Ndayisenga of Bonesha FM was arrested Sunday while visiting friends in Western Cibitoke Province, Patrick Nduwimana said. Two friends with him were arrested and later released, he said.
8 juni 2016 OCHA
Rwanda Ready to Host AU Summit
Rwanda is fully prepared to host the upcoming African Union Summit, and all requirements are in place, Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said. The 27th AU summit will be held in Rwanda’s Capital Kigali between July 10-18th under the theme; “ 2016: African Year of Human Rights, with particular focus on the Rights of Women”.
8 juni 2016 OCHA
UNICEF concerned over arrests, school expulsion of students
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today it is concerned about the arrests, expulsions from school and injuries of students in Burundi schools, and has called for all parties involved in the political conflict in the country to fully respect the rights of children to education and to protect them from violence.
8 juni 2016 OCHA
Fearing murder trial, three accused go underground
In the Burundi national Yannick Nihangaza murder case, one of the accused Jaskaran Singh, who was got extradited from Australia by the Jalandhar Commissionerate, along with two other accused Harsh Gosain and Sumant Ralhan have gone underground.
8 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi frees some students accused of defacing president’s photo
Burundi said on Tuesday it had released six juveniles who were part of a group of 11 students jailed last week for allegedly defacing a photograph of President Pierre Nkurunziza in a school text book.
9 juni 2016 OCHA
Belgium Tells Burundi To Stop Dragging Neighbours In Its Conflict
Belgian government has asked Pierre Nkurunziza’s government that is running the conflict ravaged Burundi to stop accusing its neighbours especially Rwanda for having a hand in the conflict.
9 juni 2016 OCHA
Students still detained over defacing Burundian president’s photo
In Burundi five school students are still in prison because they allegedly defaced a textbook photo of President Nkurunziza. Parents and others are calling for their release, but the authorities refuse to climb down.
11 juni 2016 OCHA
Rwanda is not ‘destabilising’ Burundi
Tens of thousands of Burundians have fled to neighbouring Rwanda over the past year due to heightened political violence….. In this web extra, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo reiterates the government’s stance, saying her country’s only involvement in the crisis was to “take care of Burundian refugees”.
12 juni 2016 OCHA
Rwanda expels Burundians who say they were accused of spying
Rwanda has expelled about 400 Burundians back to their country accusing some of them of espionage and fuelling tensions between the two small neighbors whose relations have been strained by Burundi’s political crisis, an official said on Sunday.
12 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi opposition happy with mediator talks
Burundi’s key umbrella opposition group said Saturday it was “very satisfied” after meetings in Brussels with a mediator tasked with brokering talks to resolve the country’s festering political crisis.
12 juni 2016 OCHA
‘Burundi girls sold into slavery in Arab Gulf’
Burundi human rights groups say about 800 young girls and women have been taken to Gulf states to work as household slaves since October.
13 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi-Rwanda political tensions continue
Political tensions between Burundi and Rwanda continue to rise as the Rwandan government expels more Burundians. Since Wednesday, Kigali has expelled at least 387 Burundians allegedly living in Rwanda illegally.
14 juni 2016 OCHA
1 killed in grenade attack in president’s hometown
The governor of a rural province in Burundi says one person has been killed in a grenade explosion in the hometown of President Pierre Nkurunziza.Albert Nduwimana, the governor of Ngozi Province, said four others were wounded in the attack early Tuesday on a parking lot for passenger bicycles in Ngozi town. He said the attacker, a man dressed in military fatigues, was also killed in the explosion.
14 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi turns to WhatsApp as political turmoil brings media blackout
Threats and harassment have driven journalists into exile, leaving social media to fill the void for those wanting to reach the world and connect disparate groups. (…) In Burundi, as more responsible radio stations are replaced by unfiltered voices spread by new technologies, journalists are trying to re-establish professional reporting in their country. (…) In March, a meeting was held in Brussels between Karenga Ramadhani, the new president of the Burundian National Council for Communication, and the banned media. This was a first step towards an improved political climate. (…) Since then, some arrest warrants against journalists have been lifted and both sides have made commitments to improve relations. Nevertheless, opening a space for public debate will only be possible if those promises are kept, and the situation returns to normal.
14 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi sparks Tanzania refugee time bomb
The political upheavals in Burundi have presented Tanzania with a perilous refugee catastrophe as camps burst at the seams beyond their carrying capacities and diseases spread freely. (…) Two of the three existing sites — Nyarugusu and Nduta — have already swelled to capacity. A third camp, Mtendeli, is now receiving refugees transferred from the overcrowded Nyarugusu camp, as well as newly arrived refugees from the border areas.
15 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi school sends home 230 students for defacing president’s photo
A secondary school in rural Burundi sent home 230 students on Tuesday for defacing the portrait of President Pierre Nkurunziza in their textbooks, a regional head of education said…. “It is an option we took to push them to reveal the authors of the acts,” he told Reuters by phone.
15 juni 2016 OCHA
Nkurunziza’s crackdown on student protests could threaten Burundi’s future
A secondary school in the Ruyigi province of Burundi sent home 230 students on Tuesday for defacing the portrait of President Pierre Nkurunziza in their textbooks. Kwizera Guillaume, the provincial director of education reportedly said the students sent home are from four classes and that they are currently sitting for an exam. “It is an option we took to push them to reveal the authors of the acts,” he told Reuters by phone.
15 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi schools probed after president’s photos defaced
Nine schools are being investigated in eastern Burundi after photos of the president were defaced in text books. More than 230 pupils were suspended on Monday for refusing to own up to the defacement of 27 books at their school. Eleven students in other provinces are already being prosecuted for insulting the president by defacing his photo, punishable by five to 10 years in jail.
15 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi civil society networks call for facilitator Mkapa resignation
Two Burundian networks of civil society organizations have issued a joint statement strongly criticizing former Tanzanian President and facilitator in the Burundian conflict Benjamin Mkapa for meeting the radical opposition and “coup plotters” in Belgium, asking him to resign. The two networks are the Integral Platform for the Civil Society and the Coalition of Associations of People Infected or Affected by HIV/AIDS
16 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi’s Police Say One Gunman Killed, Five Arrested in Capital
Burundi’s police said they shot a gunman and arrested five others in a southern district of the capital, the latest violence in a more than yearlong political crisis. The police and army are continuing to search Bujumbura’s Musaga neighborhood, spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye told reporters Wednesday in the city.
16 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundian refugees need international community assistance
As the world marks International Day of the African Child today, international communities have been urged to consider providing more support and humanitarian assistance to the displaced Burundian refugees currently camping in Kigoma. Some of the camps have reached full capacity and cannot accommodate a significant influx of more refugees from Burundi in which 60 per cent of the refugees are under 18 years of age.
17 juni 2016 OCHA
UN rights experts urge end to violence in Burundi
Three human rights experts of the UN Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB) [official website] on Friday echoed previous calls for a stop to violence [press release] after their second visit
19 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundian refugees hits over 250,000 since April
As tension remains high in Burundi, the number of people who have sought shelter in neighbouring states has now passed the 250,000 mark, according to the UN Refugee Agency. UNHCR further cautioned that the number of people fleeing from the tiny east African nation could rise further if no proper steps are undertaken by various parties to solve Burundi’s crisis.
20 juni 2016 OCHA
Burundi to reconsider Rome Statute membership after ICC’s investigations launch
International Criminal Court launch of preliminary investigations into post-election killings in Burundi has triggered threats from the country on reconsideration of membership to the Rome Statute. Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Nyamitwe said ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had not taken into account the principle of complementarity, where national courts are given the first priority to investigate the killings that have taken place in Burundi since April last year.
21 juni 2016 OCHA
Rights bodies demand release of arrested students
Children’s rights organizations in Burundi are demanding the release of five students who are still in custody, almost 20 days after their arrest. The teenagers were arrested on June 3rd for doodling on photos of President Pierre Nkurunziza in their textbooks. The arrests added on to hundreds of others made for similar reasons.
21 juni 2016 OCHA
UN appeals for aid for Burundian refugees in the DRC
The United Nations Refugee Agency is appealing for funds to assist Burundian refugees living in the Lusenda camp, in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). About 22,720 Burundians have over the last year fled to neighbouring DRC, following a political crisis in that country. “We need about 8 million US dollars to assist the refugees, but we have only received 14 percent of the funding and we think that we will not receive enough money” said the UNHCR’s head in Bukavu, Louame Cyr Modeste.
21 juni 2016 OCHA
IOM Provides Assistance to Asylum Seekers and Refugees Fleeing Burundi for Tanzania
For 14 months – since April 2015 – political instability in Burundi has led to tens of thousands of Burundians, and other Third Country Nationals (TCNs) residing there, to flee the country and seek refuge in neighboring countries. Over 140,000 asylum seekers and refugees have sought haven in Tanzania since the start of this crisis. These individuals have been provided with safe and dignified transportation and relocation assistance by IOM Tanzania as the lead agency of the transportation sector within the United Nations Country Management Team.
http://www.iom.int/news/iom-provides-assistance-asylum-seekers-and-refugees-fleeing-burundi-tanzania
21 juni 2016 OCHA
UK provides additional humanitarian support for Burundian refugees in Tanzania
The UK is providing an additional £15.0 million to help meet the urgent needs of Burundian refugees arriving in western Tanzania. This brings the total UK support to the current refugee influx to £29.25 million (c TZS 90 billion) since June 2015. The new funds will help provide food, water, social services and education for the refugees as well providing additional support to the Tanzanian communities that are hosting them.
23 juni 2016 OCHA
AU delegation in Burundi to assess the security situation
A delegation of the Peace and Security Department of the the African Union Commission (AUPSD) arrived in Burundi on Wednesday for a three-day peace mission to assess the security situation in the country.
27 juni 2016 OCHA
Just a quarter of agreed AU observers in Burundi
The African Union has deployed less than a quarter of the agreed 200 military and human rights observers to Burundi, amid differences with the country over their role in tackling a festering political crisis, sources close to the AU said Thursday.
28 juni 2016 OCHA
AU Council Calls for Quick, Inclusive Talks On Burundi
The 15 members of the African Union Peace and Security Council has called for quick and inclusive talks to solve Burundi’s year-long crisis, after a four-day visit to the country.
30 juni 2016 OCHA
UN Human Rights Chief: Burundi May Explode Into Ethnic Violence
Burundi’s human rights record is under scrutiny at the U.N. Human Rights Council over the objections and anger of that country’s government. The council said it is alarmed at the rise in rights violations in Burundi since last year’s political crisis.
Dat de verhouding tussen Rwanda en Burundi slecht is, is geen nieuws. De relatie tussen Kagame en Nkurunziza was er altijd een waarin ze elkaar het leven zuur probeerden te maken. Zie bijvoorbeeld op 11, 12 en 13 juni 2016 hierboven. ‘Ze weten het zelf ook wel’, zei een bekende toen we het erover hadden dat de slechte verhouding tussen de twee presidenten al veel langer bestaat, ‘alleen komt het ze nu weer eens goed uit om het aan te dikken’.
OCHA plaatst over het algemeen berichten van betrouwbare bronnen, soms een of twee dagen na het oorspronkelijke bericht. Het valt ons op dat de WHO over Burundi niet altijd de juiste of niet de volledige informatie op haar site heeft staan. Zo zijn bijvoorbeeld de mental health gegevens lacunair, zoals we zelf konden constateren.
Bericht van een Burundese kennis op 29 juni 2016:
Het betreft een weduwe met vier kinderen, waarvan er twee in het buitenland verblijven en de derde (14 jaar oud) vanwege heimwee terug kwam, ook al vond zijn moeder dat niet veilig. Zij raakte bijna een jaar geleden na tien jaar haar baan als secretaresse bij een NGO kwijt.
On se porte bien. Maintenant la situation semble calme et stable. En tout cas ça va bien.
Je n’ai pas encore trouvé un boulot mais je garde espoir.
Tu me demandais si je vends encore des Primus (bier, KzG). Non j’ai abandonné depuis plus d’une année. J’ai abandonné avec le mois d’avril 2015 au début de manifestations. C’était trop risqué.
J’ai des amis qui avaient un enfant malade hospitalisé à cause de la drogue. Il y a beaucoup de jeunes gens même des enfants de moins de 20 ans qui sont hospitalisés à cause de la consomation de drogue. C’est triste.
Bericht van een andere Burundese kennis op 27 juni 2016:
Het betreft een vader van vier kinderen, die eveneens in het afgelopen jaar zijn baan bij een NGO kwijtraakte.
Nous sommes bien avec la famille, la vie va bien sauf que mon fils se trouve au Rwanda. C’est lui que j’avais peur de le laisser ici a Bujumbura. Mais j’ai pas encore trouvé du travail, c’est dur.
Bericht van deze zelfde kennis op 8 juli 2016:
Je viens d’avoir un accord de principe pour l’ouverture d’un Centre de ….. a ….. mais je dois faire des achats pour l’équipe afin que je puisse me procurer du travail, j’attends alors chercher en peu d’argent pour le matériel afin que l’équipe de l’inspection vienne en dernier lieu pour donner l’autorisation définitive.
Hun berichten waren eerder alarmerend en ongerust in verband met de ongeregeldheden en de risico’s voor hun kinderen. Nu gaat het over een iets rustiger beeld, hun in het laatste jaar ontstane werkeloosheid en de hoop hier een oplossing voor te vinden.
24 juni 2016 Rijksoverheid Nederland:
Het advies ‘verlaat het land’ is verwijderd. Het advies ‘reis niet naar Burundi’ blijft gehandhaafd.
Verantwoording:
De informatie die is gebruikt voor dit bericht van Kennis zonder Grenzen is verkregen van openbare media en van bekenden uit Burundi en Nederland. De foto is overgenomen van blog.fh.org.