BURERA DISTRICT officials and their counterparts from neighbouring Kisoro District in Uganda have agreed to join efforts to fight cross-border crimes that are seen as a threat to the security of people of both countries.

The commitment was made in a meeting in Cyanika Sector, Burera District, on Tuesday, bringing together local leaders and security officials from both sides.

Officials said such crimes as murder, illegal trading of illicit liquors and human trafficking are common along the porous borders and agreed to scale up efforts to end them.

For instance, in November alone, five Rwandans were killed by unidentified people in Kisoro and its neighbouring Kiryandongo districts of Uganda.

They also said both districts should work together to curb smuggling of goods from both countries.

Commenting on human trafficking, Samuel Sembagare, the Burera mayor, said it was a pity and inhuman to see some people still dealing with human trafficking.

He urged officials from Kisoro and other neighbouring districts to work hard and end such vices.

In 2012, six girls were rescued by Rwanda National Police in Burera en route for trafficking.

There have also been reports of underage girls in Burera who are sneaked out of the country and ‘married’ off in Uganda.

"There are people who may use porous borders to take good young girls promising them better jobs but end up forcing them into marriage; this is human trafficking and the vice will be stopped through working closely with our neighbours,” said Sembagare.

Milton Bazanye Mutabazi, the chairpersonn of Kisoro District, said his country does not promote impunity and, as local leaders, they are committed to fighting such vices to promote peace and free movement in the region.

"We don’t condone any form of violence for our people on both sides; nobody should be killed or persecuted no matter what they have done,” Mutabazi said.

"If a person commits a crime, they should be punished lawfully, we don’t promote violence as result of disagreement between two parties.”

He added that the investigations by Ugandan security are ongoing to find out people behind the murder of the five Rwandans.

On other crimes, Mutabazi said they are committed to fighting human trafficking, which he said is an international crime that should not be tolerated.

He also said they were committed to preventing illicit beers made in Uganda from being smuggled from there to Rwanda adding that there are some which are not even approved by Ugandan Bureau of Standards (UBS).

Sembagare also called for the banishment of illicit liquor distillation plants at the border areas.

Local leaders and residents in Cyanika and other sectors neighbouring Uganda admit that illicit brews, which are smuggled in by a notorious ring known as Abarembetsi have been a threat despite more efforts by police and local leaders to end the illegal business.