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Burundi, Rwanda beef up security at borders

Saturday September 03 2016
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Burundian refugees at Gashora transit camp in Rwanda. Burundi closed its border with Rwanda. FILE PHOTO | DANIEL S NTWARI

The shooting of two Burundians in Rwanda is likely to escalate the tense relations between the two countries, with the neighbours already beefing up security on their frontier borders.

In the wee hours of Wednesday last week, Rwanda military patrolling the border at Bugarama sector in the southwestern district of Rusizi shot and killed two people suspected to be “infiltrators” from Burundi.

The incident was first reported by Burundian media, but on Thursday, the spokesperson of Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) confirmed it, saying that the two were shot after they defied an order to stop.

“There were about four to five people who infiltrated Rwanda territory and when the soldiers tried to approach them, they did not co-operate,” said Lt Col René Ngendahimana.

Burundi said that the two were businessmen.

But Lt Col Ngendahimana said that the area where they were was prone to attacks by “bandits” from Burundi. The army said that unknown people from Burundi had previously shot a citizen in the area.

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“The area where the incident happened had recently experienced an attack by unknown people from Burundi, who shot and harmed a citizen guarding his plantation. When the civilian inquired about their identity, one of the men shot him in the leg and disappeared. Hence the army has been on the alert in this area,” Lt Col Ngendahimana said.

The army said that the intention was not to kill but to apprehend the unknown people but incidentally two people were killed in the process and it was discovered at dawn that they were civilians from Burundi.

It is not yet clear what the shot people had entered Rwanda to do. The army states that investigations are still ongoing to determine what their intentions were.

Tensions between the two countries have escalated further over the past month, after Burundi decided to ban exports to Rwanda and restricted border movement.

Rwanda imports mainly fruits and vegetables, cassava flour and silver fish from Burundi. Bujumbura defended the decision as a move to bolster its own food security. However angry Burundian officials said that Burundi cannot continue to supply food to a country which is plotting to destabilise it.

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President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government accuses Kigali of training and arming rebels to destabilise the country but Rwanda has consistently denied the accusations.

The decision to ban exports to Rwanda was met by protests from Burundi farmers who decried lack of market for their produce.

The decision has also prompted tough checks on the borders on the Burundian side, while cases of smuggling have been on the rise. Transport restrictions have been slapped on companies operating the Kampala-Kigali-Bujumbura route.

“We are subjected to hours of rigorous checks. If you are caught with foodstuffs, even for your own consumption, or for a friend, you are detained for hours and you remain at the mercy of officials,” said Muzamil Mwesigwa, who works with Horizon Transport Company.

According to sources, several people have been detained on accusations of spying and smuggling.

The porous border between the two countries has made it difficult for Burundian officials to control the outflow of goods.

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