Burundi Red Cross Society’s alarm call : Katiyunguruza calls for the reopening of borders with Rwanda

SOS Médias Burundi,

Butanyerera, September 19, 2025 – On the International First Aid Day, the Burundi Red Cross Society launched an urgent appeal for the reopening of the borders with Rwanda, which have been closed for 20 months. This request was motivated by the health emergency, economic and social difficulties, and the risks for populations living along the border.

On the occasion of the International First Aid Day, celebrated on Saturday, September 13, in Ngozi, the town center of Butanyerera province, which borders Rwanda in northern Burundi, Anselme Katiyunguruza, Secretary Secretary of the Burundi Red Cross Society, launched an urgent appeal to the Burundian government. He called for the reopening of the borders with Rwanda, which have been closed for more than 20 months.

According to him, the prolonged border closures seriously compromise rescue operations, particularly the rapid evacuation of patients requiring specialized care. “We have well-equipped ambulances, but unfortunately the journey is becoming extremely long,” he lamented.

A direct plea to provincial authorities

Katiyunguruza directly appealed to Alain Patrick Muheto, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Butanyerera Province, asking him to take this plea to national authorities.
He proposed a practical and immediate solution : establishing a medical relay between Burundian and Rwandan ambulances at border posts. This coordination, he said, would reduce transfer times and increase the chances of survival for patients in critical situations.

A fatal detour through Tanzania

Currently, to transfer patients to Rwanda, rescue workers are forced to bypass Tanzania. – a route deemed “long, tiring, and dangerous” by the Red Cross. This detour often leads to irreversible medical complications and, in some cases, the death of patients before reaching their destination.

Human tragedies at closed borders

This tragic reality is not limited to medical evacuations. Lacking official access, some residents attempt to cross Lake Rweru in Busoni or Lake Cohoha in Bugabira illegally. Several lost their lives there in 2023 and 2024, according to local administration sources.

Economic and social consequences

Beyond the health emergency, Katiyunguruza pointed out that border closures are exacerbating poverty in border communities. Traders are being suffocated by the exorbitant cost of bypassing routes, and cross-border families are seeing their ties broken.
Intermarriages, once common, are now stigmatized. “Marrying a Rwandan woman is considered a sin,” confided residents of the region, a sign of an increasingly deepening social divide.

Resonance with local authorities

In his speech, Alain Patrick Muheto confirmed the urgency of the situation. “Many patients are succumbing due to the lack of first aid,” he said. He advocated for all hospitals in the country to be equipped with well-equipped ambulances to reduce human losses.

Towards necessary reconciliation

For the Red Cross, opening the borders is not only a humanitarian issue, but also a step towards reconciliation between the two neighboring peoples. “Human life must take precedence over political differences,” insisted Katiyunguruza, calling for pragmatic solutions.

The authorities of the small east African nation closed the borders with Rwanda in January 2024. They had been reopened after President Évariste Ndayishimiye came to power in June 2020, following the sudden death of his predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza. Burundian authorities accuse Rwanda of harboring putschists who attempted to overthrow the government in 2015 and of supporting armed groups hostile to Gitega, accusations rejected by Kigali.

The crisis is exacerbated by the conflict in eastern DRC, where the M23 armed group, suspected of receiving Rwandan support, continues to advance, having recaptured several capitals and strategic mineral-rich areas. Burundi has deployed approximately 10,000 troops to eastern Congo to fight alongside the FARDC, the Congolese loyalist army, and allied militias against the M23. On several occasions, both in Burundi and abroad, Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye has accused his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame of destabilizing the subregion and planning incursions into Burundi, declaring : “We will not accept dying like the Congolese who are being killed like goats. I have already warned Rwanda.”