2023, a nightmarish year for Burundian refugees living in camps

From the assassination in Kenya and Malawi to a possible end to refugee status in Tanzania, including a considerable reduction in assistance in Rwanda, the SOS Médias Burundi microphone went to meet Burundian refugees in their camps. Narrative. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

• Dzakela-Malawi

At the Dzaleka camp, around thirty refugees, mainly Burundian and Congolese, were killed over the past year by men armed with either bladed weapons or grenades.

“Acts of insecurity here have become commonplace. You almost get used to it. In the second half of December alone, two refugees were killed. The total number that I have personally counted has exceeded 30 since January”, says one of the Burundian refugee leaders.

When it comes to disappearances, this same leader recalls that, in a meeting with officials from the UNHCR and the government of Malawi, “a figure of more than a hundred was mentioned, most of them young men, who would have gone either to South Africa or young girls who left for the Gulf countries.

This year, the camp organized nightly patrols to try to stem this situation, while the police carried out raids.

• Kakuma-Kenya

Kakuma saw around twenty refugees killed with “machetes”. Most are bikers whose devices have also been stolen and traders who have been the target of armed bandits. In this camp, refugees blame the police “who do not take adequate measures for the alleged perpetrators to be arrested”.

“We have repeatedly denounced this laxity of the police, we have also pointed the finger at South Sudanese of the Nuer ethnic group as alleged perpetrators of these barbaric acts, but nothing has been done. We are currently at the pace of revenge and popular justice. In 2024, we will apply the formula : an eye for an eye”, underlines a furious Burundian refugee, recalling that only so-called “Great Lakes” refugees, namely Burundians and Congolese, are more targeted by this insecurity machine.

In Kakuma, a phenomenon of infant mortality has also appeared which results from “poor reception conditions”, especially at the central hospital known as “seven”. “The typical example is the last week of 2023 when there were six stillbirths”, lament refugees.

• Nyarugusu/Nduta-Tanzania

In the Nyarugusu and Nduta camps in Tanzania, refugees are mainly faced with the uncertainty of the next day.

“We are all in total uncertainty because Tanzania has already reached an agreement that will end refugee status as early as next year. So the end of 2023 almost heralds a sort of apocalypse for us. This is a situation that we have already been experiencing since the beginning of this year, it remains to be implemented”, lament Burundians.

They look back on the strong, dark times of 2023 :

“Insecurity around the camps, speeches of hate or fear, closure of markets which influenced a considerable increase in the price of foodstuffs by a factor of two, vicious destruction of crop fields, banning of farming activities, discoveries of corpses inside and not far from the camps, closure of health centers, arbitrary arrests of refugees, eight refugees killed by a lightning strike, malaria epidemic, etc.“, they say to summarize 2023.

The only strong point that we can point out is that people are devoting themselves more to prayer, “but here too, it is one of the signs of fear of tomorrow”, conclude our interviewees.

• Mahama-Rwanda

In Mahama, it is more the reduction in the ration which causes a lot of saliva to flow. The UNHCR and the WFP have reduced the assistance reserved for refugees, “for lack of funding”, explain these UN agencies.

“It has had a lot of influence on the misery we experience here. In fact, prices have even fallen on the market due to the lack of customers. People here barely eat once a day”, say refugees, who put things into perspective by speaking of “a situation of normalized poverty because people have ended up getting used to the daily ordeal.”

Asked about the end of year celebrations, they do not feel concerned.

“Here between the 20th of each month and the 10th of the following month, it is involuntary fasting, a hard period, because we have exhausted stocks and we are waiting for the next distributions. So Christmas and New Year holidays come at the wrong time” they said desperately.

Others seem to put humor into it. “Since Christmas, the police will not have had people to imprison because there has been no drinking, even less crimes usually numerous at these end-of-year days, no injured going to dispensaries because of fights over drunkness, no sign of partying here in the villages, it seems we’re in a mourning period!“, they specify.

• Meheba-Zambia

The misery of the end-of-year holidays has not spared the Meheba camp in Zambia.

“Normally, we bought new clothes for the children, we prepared a good meal especially at Christmas, but today, we are far from that. Hey, even at the slaughterhouse, there was no meat on Christmas Day because the butchers know they have no potential customers! A first!“, point out Burundian refugees who talk about the rise in prices on the market.

But certain categories were privileged.

Only the oldest, the disabled, the most vulnerable and those suffering from serious chronic illnesses celebrated the New Year well, according to refugees.

They received their assistance last Friday with the arrears of the last six months.

“These categories received assistance for six months, that is to say 1680 Zambian kwacha due to 280 Kwaca per month. But, most of them had contracted debts everywhere, which means that “They will simply repay the debts now”, inform our sources.

These refugees, considered the most vulnerable, hope that in 2024, these delays in the distribution of their assistance will no longer occur.

• Nakivale-Uganda

It is only at Nakivale camp where the taste of Christmas and New Year seems to be felt. “I saw people who celebrated, bought new clothes for their children or even those who had one drink too many and who were singing in the streets even during Christmas night”, noted an SOS Médias Burundi reporter.

Another observation, not usual in Nakivale : “cows were slaughtered, and a kilo of meat went from 14,000 to 17,000 Uganda shillings because demand seemed to exceed supply.”

But, some Burundians regret, these festivals are reserved only for the Congolese, Ethiopian or even Somali communities, “but not Burundian refugees”.

According to these Burundians, the communities that celebrate “are already well established, have businesses and relatives abroad who send them money.” For the Burundians, nothing abnormal because “we are in poverty, without income”, they point out.

• Lusenda-Mulongwe (DRC)

In the two camps established in the territory of Fizi, in the province of South Kivu in east DRC, insecurity that reigns there has not spared Burundian refugees. There has also been a cross-movement of refugees, with former refugees returning to the camps despite the very difficult living conditions and Burundians who prefer to “return to die at home”.

According to the UNHCR statistics as of November 30, more than 246,000 Burundians are still in exile, mainly in the countries of the East African community with more than 45% in Tanzania, 19% in Rwanda and in DRC as well as 16% in Uganda.