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

elocation project in September 1999, relocating around 380,000 (mostly Hutu)
Burundians in 53 different sites (IDCM, 2009). The official statement on the relocation
project was that citizens were to be protected against rebel attacks. Critiques, however,
point to human rights violations of the Burundian government, for the relocation sites
were often not well equipped to fulfil the basic needs of the people. Moreover, the
government controlled the sites, and relocation procedures were often ruthless and
forced (see e.g. Bennett, 2000). IDMC (2009) states that, counter to the official statement
made by the Burundian government, the regroupment sites were constructed as a military
strategy to avoid the support of local citizens to the rebel groups. In 2000 the
regroupment sites were closed as a result of international actors criticizing the
government’s policy. Other internal displacement sites remained,however, and the
number of IDPs is still a challenge for Burundi. This will be discussed in more detail in
the following chapters.
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