Since last week, the administration and police have imposed a curfew on the Nduta camp. According to the police and administration authorities, the camp is under threat of insecurity. However, the occupants did not notice any signs of insecurity or unusual movement. The latter see another reason.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

From now on, from 7 p.m. Tanzania time, no refugees are allowed to leave or enter Nduta, the largest refugee camp which hosts more than 61,000 Burundians.

It all started last Thursday, in a weekly evaluation session which brought together all the zone chiefs as well as the administration and the police. Suddenly, refugee leaders receive information that surprises them.

“We have been informed that there are troublemakers and rebels here at the camp. The evidence is that we discovered and seized a firearm in zone 6,” said one of the police chiefs.

The intervention was supported by the president of the camp, remembers one of the participants in the meeting.

“No time to waste, we must make necessary decisions,” they proclaimed.

They were offered three options :

“Either you do night patrols yourself, or you choose young people who do night patrols with the police, or you opt for a curfew so that we can do it ourselves,” said the police.

Refugee leaders say they haven’t had time to think about it. One of them say that they chose “the least dangerous solution”.

“In fact, we understood that there is a hidden agenda and that there is already a bad plan concocted against us. So, we could not accept that we go on rounds or that our young people go on patrols at the great risk that we would be accused of complicity of their troublemakers. It’s better to return before 7 p.m. because it’s already dark,” explain these Burundians.

No worrying sign

In this camp, Burundians suggest that they see no sign of insecurity there.

“First, the seized weapon (AK-47) was not presented to the leaders or to the refugees, then no one is worried here, everyone goes about their activities without hindrance, we have not yet noticed strangers here, even around the camp. So, we are all wondering, what exactly is going on,” ask refugees and their local leaders.

Some people attempt an explanation.

“We believe this is a way of keeping us in full fear, a pressure to return before the date they set for the end of December. Or, they want to disrupt the camp to finally close it, supposedly because it contains troublemakers,” they analyze.

For the moment, occupants of Nduta have begun to submit to this decision. “Everyone is rushing to return before 7 p.m. and those inside must also confine themselves to their homes to avoid any suspicion,” they say.

At the same time, all activities must also cease, including the rare small businesses that remain there.

Refugees are calling on the UNHCR, accused of powerlessness, to intervene and restore the situation, otherwise, “it will only fail in its mission of protecting refugees”, as community leaders point out.

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A young boy from a Burundian refugee family stands in front of his parents’ house in Nduta camp, November 2023 (SOS Médias Burundi)