Kakuma (Kenya): three Burundian refugees assaulted

These Burundians have been discovered since last Saturday, in the early morning or at night. Unknown people attack Burundians when they go home in the evening. Burundian refugees ask the police to be more vigilant to ensure their safety. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Two young people were found dying on Sunday morning. One of them is named “Donatien” living in Kakuma IV, zone 2 block 5.

“They were attacked last Saturday night, on the road leading to the place commonly known as ‘Seven’. Had it not been for the intervention of passers-by who saw them, they would have succumbed to their injuries,” witnesses said. Both victims had injuries all over their bodies.

The third, nicknamed “Buzoya”, lives in Kakuma III, Block 11. He was found on Monday.

“He was lying on the section which leads to the place called ‘Burundian market’, not far from a cemetery, seriously injured on the head,” we learn.

They are all being treated at Kakuma Central Hospital in the intensive care Unit.

Burundian refugees suspect Sudanese “who move around at night with machetes, spears and clubs”. They have contacted the police to carry out investigations but are not hoping for much.

“This is not the first time such incidents have occurred, and the police are informed of them but do nothing. Sometimes we even give them names of the alleged culprits but no one is worried!», lament some Burundian community leaders.

The police say they will redouble their efforts, but ask refugees “not to return late again” and to “also ensure their own safety”.

The Kakuma camp is regularly the scene of criminal incidents which often take human lives, and according to refugees, it is so-called nationals of the Great Lakes of Africa, namely the Burundians, Congolese and Rwandans who are mostly targeted.

No week goes by without such cases being reported, which worries refugees who suspect the complicity of civil guards and elements of the police in what they describe as “organized thefts”.

Kakuma has more than 200,000 refugees, including more than 25,000 Burundians.