Regional standby force invited as African Union meets over Burundi

An updateon the situation in Burundi was the only item on the agenda when the 557th meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the African Union’s (AU’s) standing decision-making body responsible for the maintenance of continental peace and security, convened yesterday afternoon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Peace and Security Council was meeting to review latest reports on the situation in Burundi, following concerns that the escalating violence could plunge the east African nation into chaos, with predicted spill-over effects in the wider African Great Lakes region. The PSC’s official twitter page, yesterday, announced that the meeting was to receive an update on the situation in Burundi. The Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) – one of the five regional forces for peace support operations (PSOs) of the African Standby Force – was represented in the meeting. “PSC meeting on Burundi starts in under an hour. The East African Standby Force Coordinating Mechanism has been invited to the meeting,” read one of the tweets by press time. “UN, EU and UN-P5 are participating in PSC meeting on situation in Burundi.” Apart from briefings by AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, on latest developments in Burundi, the session also heard briefings from other parties, including the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), among others. While the EAC supports PSC decisions on Burundi, Chergui reiterated that genuine dialogue among Burundians can only take place outside Burundi. By press time yesterday, no details could be established, but it was announced that other international partners – the UN, EU and the UN Security Council’s five permanent members (the P5); namely China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, also made statements to the PSC on the situation in Burundi. About two hours after the meeting started, invited guests and the Burundi government representative “were escorted out” before PSC members continued exchanging views on the situation in Burundi during an executive session. The Peace and Security Department of the African Union Commission provides support to efforts aimed at promoting peace, security and stability on the continent. More than 240 people have been killed in the country since protests began in April against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s quest for a third term. Nkurunziza was re-elected in July. Violence has forced over 210,000 Burundians, mostly children, to flee to neighboring countries. Rwanda alone is now home to over 90, 000 Burundian refugees. The situation in the capital Bujumbura is deteriorating and this week’s crackdown by government on supposed state enemies and “terrorists” is feared to be worsening matters. Last weekend, eight people, including a local UN staffer, were shot dead by people reportedly dressed in police uniforms. On Tuesday, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, asked the Security Council to consider all possible options - including asset freezes and travel bans for Burundi government officials – for preventing the violence. The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the killings, torture and human rights abuses plaguing Burundi. The resolution stressed the Council’s “intention to consider additional measures against all Burundian actors whose actions and statements contribute to the perpetuation of violence and impede the search for a peaceful solution.” EASF factor UN officials are reportedly drawing up plans, including rushing UN peacekeepers from the DR Congo to Burundi, or deploying a regional force under the AU, if the violence spirals out of control. The AU has representatives in Burundi monitoring the situation on the ground. Earlier this week, the AU Commission’s deputy chairman, Erastus Mwencha, said the Peace and Security Council meeting would review the reports and come up with recommendations to help the AU’s decision about the next step forward to help resolve the crisis in Burundi. The EASF, formerly Eastern Africa Standby Brigade (EASBRIG), is one of the options for a peacekeeping force the international community is likely to consider for deployment in Burundi. End last year, the regional force announced its readiness for deployment to respond swiftly to the security challenges in the Eastern Africa region as it wrapped up its last major joint exercise in Adama, Ethiopia. Member states – Rwanda (the current chair), Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda – have not only pledged all the required 5,200 forces but the force is on standby for deployment.

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Regional standby force invited as African Union meets over Burundi