Hundreds of Burundian refugees who prefer to stay in Rwanda’s urban areas, on Tuesday, started thronging the Red Cross compound in Kigali to be registered.

The New Times yesterday visited the registration site jointly run by government and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the usually quiet area was teeming with activity with scores of children playing about as adults waited in line.

By 10:30am, about 600 refugees had been registered but the queues were long as registration continued.Philip Kibui, a UNHCR registration officer at the site, said about 440 Burundian refugees were registered on Tuesday. 

"We have people coming to receive appointments for registration. We give appointments according to time and when they come, we give them numbers just for the sake of a semblance of order,” Kibui said.

The profile of the people registering at the compound, Kibui said, is a mix. But the majority are "socially and economically well-off people” from Bujumbura who can sustain themselves in urban areas where they opted to stay rather than in refugee camps.

Kibui said time was taken to have everything ready for this process.

"Once we had everything in order, the internal processes and procedures needed to facilitate the smooth running of the exercise, we started,” he said.

Fleeing political turmoil

Burundians started fleeing into Rwanda earlier this year, claiming they did not trust their government’s intentions ahead of the presidential election earlier scheduled on June 26.

Many claim Imbonerakure, the youth wing of Burundi’s ruling party, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for Defence and Democracy, is persecuting those opposed to President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third-term bid.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs says, by Tuesday, it had registered 32,418 Burundian refugees, including 16,237 children, but excluding those registered Tuesday at the Red Cross compound.Of the total, some 200 of them crossed into Rwanda on Tuesday.

Josephine Nduwimana, a mother of three, arrived in Kigali last week and, together with her sister Immaculee Nduwimana, a mother of seven, decided to pitch camp in Nyamirambo where a friend provided them with lodging.

Nduwimana said she was worried of the safety of his 25-year-old son still in Bujumbura as "young men are being targeted by the regime.”

Acquiring travel documents has become a problem as they know people are fleeing, the former resident of Ngagara area of Bujumbura said.

"Before I fled, a neighbour’s 18-year-old son had been killed. Everyone in opposition is targeted but more especially the young men,” Nduwimana said.

Her sister Immaculee, who has a breastfeeding baby, said government agents have lists of people to arrest.

"They know who is in the opposition. You either accept the third term or be harassed. This is the problem. It is not an ethnic issue. And the world knows this by now. It can’t be acceptable what is going on home. I had to leave even without travel documents,” Immaculee, who hails from Cibitoke, in northwestern Burundi, said.

Envoy refutes persecution claims

Meanwhile, in an interview last week, the Burundian envoy to Rwanda, Amb. Alexis Ntukamazina refuted refugees’ claims that Imborerakure or state security agents were harassing civilians.

"I cannot say that they are running away from nothing but let’s be clear; have you seen any of the refugees who was hurt by a fellow citizen? We don’t want people to hurt each other but what has become clear is that many are fleeing due to earlier rumours that once CNDD-FDD presented President Pierre Nkurunziza as a candidate, killings or war would ensue,” Amb. Ntukamazina said.

"In Burundi, there are many rumours, especially when election time is approaching. And it is not the first time this is happening.”

Ntukamazina said more than 99 per cent of Burundi is safe apart from five distinct areas of the capital – Musaga, Nyakabiga, Ngagara, Mutakura and Buterere – because of an unlawful "insurrection” by people there.

The refugee issue is a result of an internal "political manipulation” behind the scenes, the envoy said.

But Immaculee refuted the diplomat’s account.

"No one can just leave their home and property for no good reason. He is a government official and that is what he is expected to say. They have lists and know who to target. They are hunting down everyone in opposition,” she said.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw