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

service providers and agents and are based on personal relationships; individuals who are
returning for holidays and other missions commonly carry money to the destination.
There are groups, however, that use formal channels such as account-to-account
transfers via banks, cash-based transfers via MTOs (Sander, 2003), transfers utilising the
SWIFT system (Carling, 2005), and electronic transfers (Isern et al., 2005). Primarily
people with legal status who have bank accounts use these formal channels. Western
Union and Money Gram are the main formal money transfer channels to Burundi. They
have several branches and agencies across the country, and they are the preferred transfer
channel choice by most Burundian diaspora. The choice for these two companies is due
to advantages such as speed, security, and reliability, advantages that outweigh the high
cost of sending money through this channel (De Bryun and Wets, 2006, pp37-9).
6.4 The impact of remittances in Burundi
Remittances are mainly used to meet basic subsistence needs of family members, relatives
and close friends as well as for education and health care. Remittances are also used for
the construction of houses and purchase of property in preparation for return or as an
investment (de Bruyn and Wets 2006, p35). Some diaspora also remit to help families left
behind in camps in Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to
pay for food, shelter, education and healthcare as well as to set up small businesses.
Other uses include family events, such as marriages, funerals, and baptisms. Burundians
in the Netherlands also contribute money to collective remittances, which are used for
projects in their home country. These resources mainly target people outside the family
and include a range of uses from funding of community projects to emergency funds in
crisis situations. (Burundi Women for Peace and Development, 2009) Political parties
also benefit from remittances, both from their members in the diaspora and from people
in the diaspora seeking to have political influence at home. 44
Remittances constitute an important source of income, and thus livelihoods, in
Burundi even though access to international remittances might not apply equally to all
groups and regions. For the poor communities or marginalised groups such as the Twa
or internally displaced who did not get the chance to flee to Europe and North America,
the benefits of international remittances are unlikely to reach their regions. In the context
of the recent economic crisis it is not clear how global events will impact remittances to
Burundi, but forecasts suggest that overall remittance flows will remain stable despite the
44 Interview November 13, 2009 Almere
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