Photo of the week : over 70 people arrested in 8 months for having illegally traveled to Rwanda

Residents of villages bordering Rwanda in Mugina district, in Cibitoke province (northwest Burundi), no longer hide their concerns. More than 70 people have already been arrested by the police in a period of 8 months, accused of crossing the border illegally. Residents are demanding the reopening of the closed border.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

76 people including about forty Imbonerakura (members of the CNDD-FDD youth league), from the villages of Nyempundu, Gitumba, Kagurutsi and Nyamakarabo in Mugina district in Cibitoke province, were arrested in a period not exceeding 8 months for having crossed the border into Rwanda.

A local administration source reports that these are illegal traders who go to Rwanda to sell certain goods, including cassava flour, coffee and rice, and return to Burundi with potatoes and cosmetic products.

The administration indicates that “cross-border trade is strictly prohibited during this period when the land borders are closed between the two countries.”

A source on site indicates that “the closure of the borders has worsened the poverty of border residents, particularly on the Burundian side. This pushes people to take the risk of crossing the border illegally.”

An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity acknowledges that the closure of the borders hinders the movement of goods and people and that it is the residents who pay the heavy price.

The same authority confirms the arrest of some of the residents. Some of them are being held in the provincial police cell while others are in the central prison of Mpimba in the commercial city of Bujumbura.

The hunt for people traveling to Rwanda is in full swing and fear can be seen on the faces of border residents who, nevertheless, are not ready to give up.

The depreciation of the Burundian currency is pushing farmers to sell their agricultural products on the other side of the border where the exchange rate of the Rwandan franc is worth more than four times the Burundi franc.

Despite the harassment orchestrated by administration and police authorities to force these residents to no longer travel to Rwanda, they remain determined to continue their business across the border.

Meetings regularly held by administration authorities at different levels to dissuade border populations from respecting the border closure measure are thus not generally respected.

The governor of Cibitoke promises severe sanctions against any recalcitrant before reminding the entire population that land borders between the two countries are officially closed.

Carême Bizoza also calls on his colleague from the Rusizi district (Rwanda western province) to closely monitor migratory movements at the border in this context of border closures.

Burundian authorities closed borders with Rwanda last January, accusing the Rwandan government and President Paul Kagame personally of maintaining terrorist groups of Burundians, especially the Red-Tabara armed group based in South Kivu in eastern DRC.

Our photo : border between Burundi and Rwanda, Mugina side (SOS Médias Burundi)