SOS Médias Burundi

Karusi, July 11, 2025 – Mass school dropouts, poverty, illegal migration… The former province of Karusi, now part of Gitega province (central Burundi), is facing an unprecedented crisis. Behind the exodus of thousands of pupils, growing suspicions of child trafficking to Tanzania are worrying authorities, teachers, and children’s rights organizations.

More than 6,700 pupils left school during the 2024-2025 school year in the former province of Karusi. The majority are children in primary school, according to estimates from education services. This silent hemorrhage is disrupting schools, emptying classrooms, and deeply worrying local communities.

Extreme poverty… and child trafficking?

The causes are multiple. On the one hand, chronic poverty drives some families to send their children to Tanzania in the hope of a better future. On the other, there are increasing numbers of alarming reports of possible organized child trafficking.

« We see children leaving with strangers. They talk about opportunities, work, studies… But they never come back. We’re starting to talk about the sale of children, » says a school principal in the district of Bugenyuzi.

A belated but firm reaction from the government

Questioned about this worrying phenomenon, the Minister of National Education and Scientific Research, Professor François Havyarimana, acknowledged the scale of the crisis.

« We are fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. Emergency measures are being considered, including the establishment of school canteens and the creation of vocational programs adapted to the local context,” he declared at a press conference in Bujumbura, the country’s commercial capital.

The ministry announced that it had opened a special file on the Karusi case and promised coordination with other ministerial departments.

Karusi, a model province in freefall

The shock is all the greater given that the former Karusi province was considered one of the best in the country in terms of school performance. Results in national exams regularly exceeded the national average.

“It’s a tragedy. A once exemplary province is losing its pupils. It’s a huge loss for the entire country,” laments an education inspector based in Gitega, the political capital.

Exploitation that doesn’t speak its name

Children’s rights organizations openly speak of a modern form of slavery.

« These children are lured by false promises, torn from their education, and reduced to exploitation. This is human trafficking in disguise. The country can no longer look the other way, » complains a member of an NGO operating in the region.

The few children who have returned report inhumane living conditions : unpaid domestic labor, long days of labor in the crop fields, and abuse.

Urgent measures requested

To stop the hemorrhage, NGOs and local educators are calling for immediate action :

Strengthened community awareness to alert families of the real risks;

Economic support for poor households to reduce the temptation to flee;

Reactivation of child protection committees at the village level;

Bilateral agreements with Tanzania to identify and repatriate child victims.

In a recent press release, the UNICEF called on the Burundian government for an urgent, multisectoral response.

A test for the Burundian state

For many observers, Karusi is more than an isolated case : it’s a national wake-up call. Other regions, also stricken by poverty and despair, could follow the same path if nothing is done.

« The question isn’t just where the children have gone, but what are we doing to get them back to school and give them a future? » concludes a committed teacher in Shombo.

The situation is urgent. And every day that passes without an answer condemns an entire generation a little more.