How Burundians became Serbia’s third-largest refugee group
Many are aware of the plight of refugees from Syria, who have fled in the millions since the civil war’s start in 2011, or Afghanistan, whose many displaced began making their way to Europe and elsewhere long before the Taliban’s takeover this summer.
But fewer know of the situation of refugees from Burundi, a small central African country from which over 330,000 have fled since 2015.
Yet, in Serbia in 2021, Burundians accounted for the third-highest number of nationals expressing an intention to seek asylum, behind only Afghans and Syrians, according to the Belgrade Center for Human Rights’ annual asylum report. KlikAktiv has assisted several Burundian nationals with their asylum applications in Belgrade.
Why are people fleeing Burundi, and why are they coming, of all places, to Serbia?
The situation in Burundi
Burundi’s recent crisis began in 2015, when then-president Pierre Nkurunziza ran for an unconstitutional second re-election. Burundian citizens protested and the government responded with violence. Following a failed military coup, the government escalated repression against suspected opposition, and during Nkurunziza’s controversial new term the ruling party consolidated power by jailing, killing, and disappearing dissidents.
Though Nkurunziza died suddenly in 2020, repression has continued under his successor, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who controls the same ruling party and the Imbonerakure, a youth paramilitary which targets opponents of the government.
Of course, while the triggers of Burundi’s crisis are recent, the roots are deeper, just as they are for refugee crises all over the world. As a strategy for governing, Burundi’s German and Belgian colonial rulers in the 1900s encouraged tensions between the majority Hutu and minority elite Tutsi ethnic groups, resulting in massacres and an eleven-year civil war (1993-2005) that killed 300,000 Burundians. Uneven distributions of land, power, and wealth between ethnic groups have long been a cause of conflict in Burundi.
In addition, Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a poverty rate of over 70%.
Where are Burundian refugees going?
The majority of displaced Burundians have fled to neighboring Tanzania, which hosted nearly 133,000 Burundian refugees as of June 2021. Smaller numbers have also gone to Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
However, conditions in these countries are often just as unsafe as in Burundi. In 2020, Human Rights Watch reported the forced disappearance, torture, and arbitrary detention of at least 18 Burundian refugees by Tanzanian authorities. This violence is part of a long-standing Tanzanian government campaign to pressure refugees to return to Burundi.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, Burundian refugees in camps have reported the presence of the Imbonerakure paramilitaries, who have crossed borders to harass, surveil, and sometimes kidnap or beat refugees they believe to be political dissidents.
As a result of the violence faced in neighboring countries, many Burundians have begun looking for safety even further away from home.
Why Serbia?
In February 2018, Burundi withdrew its recognition of Kosovo, the republic and former Serbian province whose independence Serbia has contested since Kosovo’s unilateral declaration in 2008. This made Burundi the second state to withdraw a previous recognition of Kosovo, and since then another thirteen have followed, mostly from Africa, Oceania, and the Caribbean.
Three months later, in May 2018, Serbia unilaterally lifted visa restrictions for Burundian citizens. Though not presented as a quid-pro-quo, Serbia has lifted visa restrictions for other countries which have withdrawn recognition of Kosovo, including Suriname, Dominica, Grenada, and Palau.
As a result, Serbia is now the only country on the European continent to which Burundians can travel without a visa.
Upon arriving in Serbia, Burundian citizens can stay for 30 days, unless they register an intent to apply for asylum with an authority, at which point they enter Serbia’s asylum process and are transferred to Asylum Centers for the duration of the months-long process.
In 2021, 134 Burundian nationals expressed an intention to apply for asylum in Serbia — 112 of whom did so in the final quarter of the year. Belgrade NGO Info Park now estimates that Burundians make up roughly half of residents at Krnjača Asylum Center. Meanwhile, three nationals of Burundi were granted asylum status last year.
However, recent reports have shown that Burundian nationals arriving at Nikola Tesla Airport are sometimes forcibly returned via plane to previous places of transit, such as Istanbul or Addis Ababa, before they are given the opportunity to declare asylum — a violation of international law.
written by: Zach Goodwin, KlikAktiv intern and affiliated Fulbright researcher
References:
1 - UNHCR, “Burundi Regional RRP Mid-Year Report 2021,” October 13, 2021, https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/89112.
6 - BCHR’s January-June 2021 report notes 11 Burundians registering intent in that period. BCHR’s July-September 2021 notes an additional 11 Burundians registering intent in that period. BCHR’s 2021 annual report notes a total of 134 Burundians registering intent across the year, meaning 112 did so in the final quarter.
7 - Info Park, “Info Park Weekly #101, February 8, 2022, https://mailchi.mp/7dcf1aae3237/info-park-weekly-024-24-30-june-20155441
Burundi on the map of the African continent