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

integration within Dutch society by incorporating Dutch people into their activities both
in the Netherlands and the country of origin (Ongáyo, 2009). Many organisations have
websites and provide complete contact details as well as much more elaborate
information about their activities. The languages commonly used by Burundian diaspora
organisations include Kirundi, French, Swahili, and Dutch. On their organisational
websites Dutch, French, and English are widely used. The majority of these projects have
a country–wide focus even though some activities may be targeted at specific regions
within Burundi.
5.4 Divisions within the diaspora in the Netherlands
It has been noted that “Burundi has experienced a shift from binary conflict between two
irreconcilable positions based on ethnicity – two positions that could not even agree on
what the conflict was about” (Lemarchand 1996, cited in Turner 2008). This picture may
reflect the situation on the ground, but within the diaspora in the Netherlands, divisions
still exist even if they are not openly displayed. The disagreements within the Burundi
community in the Netherlands exhibit a multiplicity of opinions and alliances, which are
largely informed by ethnic fault lines still emanating from the country of origin. A careful
examination is also necessary to make a distinction between the perspectives of
Burundian migrants migrating for reasons other than to seek asylum and asylum seekers.
Refugees with varied experiences in the conflict at home, for instance, may have a
different perspective on the unity of groups within the diaspora than those individuals
who migrated outside of such a conflict context. To refugees there may be strong
differences within the group (Wahlbeck 2003, p234). Furthermore the two waves of
immigration to the Netherlands that occurred in the 1970s and 1990s were largely
characterized by ethnicity. Those individuals who left in the first wave were mainly Hutus
while more recent arrivals are Tutsis, many of whom are running away from the realities
on the ground following shifts in power after the first democratic elections in 1993 and
2005.
5.4.1 Diversity in the Burundian community
In relation to the position and viewpoints of Burundian diaspora in the Netherlands, the
divisions between different groups reflect their heterogeneous nature (also see Turner
2008, pp1164-5). They consist of a diversified group (de Bruyn and Wets 2006, p33) with
characteristics informed by cleavages such as ethnicity, gender, and status prior to
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