Migration in Burundi: History, Current Trends and Future - MGSoG ...

educational system in Burundi, one that was already weak before the war (Jackson, 2000).
In addition, children often start working at a young age in Burundi: by the age of 13, 42
percent of the children are already working (Garcia & Fares, 2007).
2.2 Culture and ethnicity
Burundi consists of three primary ethnic groups: the Hutu (Bantu), the Tutsi (Hamitic),
and the Twa (Pygmy). Eighty-five percent of Burundi’s population is Hutu, 14 percent is
Tutsi, and 1 percent is Twa (Makoba & Ndura, 2006). The main languages spoken in
Burundi are Kirundi, French, and Swahili. Both Kirundi and French are recognized as
official languages, but most people speak Kirundi. Most of the Burundian population is
Christian (67 percent), 23 percent follows traditional indigenous beliefs, and 10 percent is
Muslim.
Both before and after the colonial period, which took place between 1897 and
1962, political power was mainly in the hands of the Tutsi minority in Burundi (see Table
1). This political dominance can be traced as far back as 400 years. Apart from internal
power struggles within the Tutsi political elite, Burundi’s society was not characterized by
conflict until the (post) Colonial era. Inter-ethnic marriage was common in the pre-
colonial era and, consequently, no clear social distinctions existed between the two
groups. It is argued that Hutus and Tutsi cohabitated in a hierarchical feudal society, and
that it was not until the period of colonization that ethnic disparities were reinforced and
emphasized, resulting in ethnic clashes in Burundi (Makoba & Ndura, 2006; Ngaruko &
Nkurunziza, 2005). In the years following independence in 1962, political leaders often
used ethnic polarization as a means to reach their political goals (Makoba & Ndura, 2006).
This will be discussed in more detail in section five, which describes Burundi’s history of
civil conflict.
Table 1: Ethnic Distribution of Political Posts (percent): 1929-2001
Ethnic
groups
1929 1933 1937 1945 1967 1987 1993 1997 2000a 2000b
Tutsis 22 15 18 28 71 72 32 38 89 100 47
Hutus 20 6 2 0 18 28 68 62 11 0 53
Source: Ngaruko & Nkurunziza (2005).
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End
2001