Section: Causes and Background

Sub-section: Causes of displacement

• Last Updated: 20 October 2009
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Fighting between FNL and army displaced thousands in Bujumbura Rural (2004-2009)

• Combatants of FNL fought so called FNL “dissidents”, causing displacement in October 2007
• FNL is the only rebel group which has not made peace with the government
• Population displacement reduced in 2005 compared to 2003-2004
• Little population displacement in 2006, but the populations of Cibitoke, Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural, have suffered armed attacks, looting and destruction of homes, property and livestock at the hands of FNL
• The latest displacement in April and May 2008 affected around 20,000 people of Bubanza and Bujumbura rural
  
  

NGO (anonymous), September 2009:
“The latest conflict-induced displacement in Burundi occurred in April and May 2008 in Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza provinces. All in all, displacements affected around 20,000 persons due to armed conflict between the rebel movement FNL-Palipehutu and the Burundian Army.”

IRIN, 5 June 2008:
“Thousands of civilians who fled their homes near the Burundian capital of Bujumbura in May following clashes between the army and opposition fighters have returned to their villages, a senior official announced.
"They went back because the situation has returned to normal although there are still some cases of theft," Zenon Ndaruvukanye, the governor of Bujumbura Rural province, said on 5 June. "They received aid including blankets, soap and jerry cans from the Burundi Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross."
At least 20,000 people fled fighting between the army and Forces nationales de libération (FNL) fighters in and around Kabezi, 20 km south of Bujumbura.
[…]
Most of the displaced civilians were from Kiremba, Mena, Ramba, Gitenga and parts of Mwara, close to where the fighting broke out on 7 May. Many had sought refuge at Kabezi health centre, a nearby primary school and the market.
The returning civilians, he added, had received some rice from the ministry for national solidarity. But they still needed more food aid.
[…]
In Magara, Bugarama commune of Bujumbura Rural province, about 500 families have returned home following the May ceasefire, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. However, in Gitwaro, returnees found their homes looted, crops harvested and domestic animals eaten by the armed groups that had occupied the area.”

NRC, May 2008:
In April 2008 serious violations of the 6 September 2006 ceasefire between the Burundian Army (FDN) and the rebel group Palipehutu-FNL (FNL) occurred. The most reported events took place in the capital city, Bujumbura, where three attacks took place on April 17, 18 and 22. Violence sprung in several provinces around the country (Bujumbura Rurale, Bubanza, Cibitoke and Kayanza), but Bujumbura Rurale province has been the most affected province, witnessing displacements of population.[...]

At the peak of displacement it was reported that there were:
· 4,050 households displaced in Isale commune or 20,100 people out of 83,000 inhabitants concentrated mostly in 6 sites in the centre of the commune, Rushubi on May 2 (data Burundian Red Cross).
· 5,102 households displaced in Muyira and Kirombwe, both at Kanyosha commune on May 2 (data Burundian Red Cross).
· 4,305 households displaced in Kabezi centre in three different sites on May 7 (data Kabezi local administration).
· 3,166 households displaced in Gitaza centre and 1,100 in Rutongo, both at Muhuta commune (data Muhuta local administration).
· And fewer numbers of IDPs registered in Bugarama, Mutambu and Nyabiraba communes (several hundreds of households)."

IRIN, 25 October 2007:
“Fighters of Burundi's last active rebel group have for the second time in one week attacked a position occupied by a break-away faction, forcing villagers to flee their homes, a senior military official said.

The evening raid by combatants of the Front National de Liberation (FNL), led by Agathon Rwasa, took place on 24 October [2007] evening on a site where the so-called FNL "dissidents" have gathered in Gakungwe village of Kabezi commune in Bujumbura Rural province.

It forced hundreds of people from surrounding villages to run away as the army sent reinforcements to the area to guard the splinter faction's settlement, residents said.

"There has indeed been such an attack and the heavy exchange of gunfire was heard," deputy army chief of staff Major General Godefroid Niyuhire told IRIN on 25 October. There were, however, no casualties during the attack, he said.

The "dissidents" say they fought with Rwasa for the FNL, but Rwasa's supporters have denied their claims and accused the government of creating a faction within the FNL. Rwasa has said these men, who intend to join the country's peace process, are not even party to a 2006 ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the FNL.”

OCHA, 23 June 2005:
“Population displacement due to insecurity and armed conflict reduced markedly in the first months of the year [2005] and as compared to the period 2003-2004. Populations in the province of Bujumbura rural, where recurrent waves of displacement had taken place throughout 2004, are gradually resettling and returning to zones of origin and no sizeable population movements were registered in the first semester of the year.”

IRIN, 4 January 2005:
“Thousands of civilians have been displaced following fierce fighting on Saturday in Burundi's western province of Bujumbura Rural.

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) have not received aid, the governor of the province, Ignace Ntawembarira, said.

Fighting was reported in the communes of Isale, Nyabiraba and Kanyosha, east of the capital, Bujumbura, between the rebel faction Forces nationales de libération (FNL) of Agathon Rwasa, and a coalition of the Burundian army and troops loyal to Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the former largest rebel faction in the country, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense pour la democratie (CNDD-FDD).”

UNSC, 27 October 2006:
“In the period under review [August 2005-September 2006], the security situation was characterized by renewed clashes between FDN and FNL, mainly in the north-western provinces of Cibitoke, Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural. The populations of these provinces have suffered armed attacks, looting and destruction of homes, property and livestock at the hands of FNL. In 2006, 107 cases of attacks and looting by FNL were reported.”
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