Nakivale (Uganda) : a Burundian refugee detained for human trafficking

Sylvestre Ndizeye, in his fifties, is detained in a police cell. He was arrested after the disturbing disappearance of a little boy from the Congolese community. He is accused by the little boy’s mother of being involved in the disappearance of her child and is suspected of “human trafficking”. His compatriots cry injustice.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Sylvestre Ndizeye, a 53-year-old Burundian refugee, has been detained since January 20 in Kabingo, not far from the Nakivale camp in Uganda. He lives in the village of Kashojwa B.

His neighbor suspects him of human trafficking.

According to our sources on site, the case dates back to last September when a Congolese woman announced that her son q(between 6 and 8 years old) had disappeared. She then contacted the police and directly pointed the finger at Sylvestre Ndizeye. This suspect was quickly arrested for investigations. He was then released after the police investigation for “lack of tangible evidence”.

Strangely enough, the case resurfaced and this Burundian refugee was arrested again, this time by the Mbarara regional police, on Monday.

His compatriots cry injustice

“We have contacted the police here to denounce this arbitrary arrest. We dare to believe that the officers who arrested him are corrupt. We know this old man, he is calm,” explains his village chief. He says that Sylvestre Ndizeye is undergoing sessions to overcome his trauma.

“He is innocent.

He is being followed by psychologists from the NGO-TPO. A record of the appointments is available. He should be released unconditionally,” he added.

In the Nakivake camp, this type of allegation is commonly used by refugees, especially Congolese, to request a third host country, we learned.

“Alleged disappearances or simulated sexual violence, these are accusations that are monetized here for personal interests and large sums of money are spent as corruption fees. And besides, some fraud in these cases is most often discovered,” say local leaders.

For the present case of this father of six children, Burundians are demanding serious investigations to avoid arbitrary imprisonment.

They are also asking the police and the camp administration to work to “break with this type of unfounded allegations for the purposes of resettlement in Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA.”

They believe that this is a kind of security disturbance in the camp that competent authorities must find a solution to as soon as possible “otherwise, killings and settling of scores could follow”.

Nakivale is home to more than 140,000 refugees, including more than 33,000 Burundians. Its occupants come from several sub-Saharan African countries.

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Sylvestre Ndizeye, the Burundian refugee detained by the Ugandan police, suspected of human trafficking (SOS Médias Burundi)