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

Due to the country’s recent return to relative calm, large numbers of Burundian
refugees in the Great Lakes Region are returning home (IDMC, 2008; Lemarchand, 2006)
(also see map below). About 500,000 Burundian refugees are estimated to have returned
to Burundi from 2002 to mid-2009 (UNHCR 2009, p6). The return of Burundi diaspora
seems to be the result of individual motivations instead of a government initiative. This is
contrary to the view that “governments of countries emerging from conflict are now
increasingly coming to appreciate the potential that refugee diasporas hold, particularly in
terms of the remittances they can send” (Koser and Van Hear 2003, p15).
At the local level return programmes are being supported by the international
community (UNHCR, 2009), but these programmes face obstacles largely linked to the
absence of a national policy on internal displacement or specific interventions that
promote return combined with local integration or resettlement (See IDMC, 2009). Some
of these return efforts are based on individual as well as group initiatives such as those
organised by Burundi Women for Peace and IZERE in the Netherlands. Different
Dutch development agencies and government ministries often collaborate with relevant
diaspora organisations and support group initiatives upon specific requests for funding or
if in line with policy priorities and focus of these agencies.
Some Burundians in the diaspora in Europe and North America are beginning to
return home as well, and this process is determined by several personal factors outside of
the government policy and formal processes. A number of personal situations hinder the
likelihood of return. There are people, for instance, who are currently engaged in various
occupations in the destination countries, some with young families, others still studying,
and some still caught in asylum processes. Among these different groups, return is most
likely if sources of livelihood upon return are favourable. Those with steady jobs and
good incomes are most likely to return only if guaranteed similar positions and incomes.
In the case of the Netherlands and to a large extent Belgium, some Burundians are
beginning to return if nominated for high positions in the current government. It has
also been noted that only those who have Dutch nationality are likely to return to
Burundi because they still have the possibility to come back to the Netherlands if the
situation on the ground changes. The majority of the international returnees are not
those resident in the Netherlands, however, but those who had lived in Belgium and
North America. 38
38 Interview November 26, 2009
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