A diplomatic row between Rwanda and Burundi is brewing as they trade accusations over where the bodies found in Lake Rweru bordering Burundi and Rwanda came from.

According to press reports, fishermen in Burundi claim to have found 40 corpses floating in Lake Rweru since July, some wrapped in plastic with their limbs bound. Authorities in Burundi and Rwanda said their citizens are not among the deceased.

Edouard Nduwimana, Burundi’s Interior Minister, told Agence France-Presse: “There are many bodies, some tied, floating on Lake Rweru, although probably the figure of 40 reported by fishermen is exaggerated. But it is certain that there are many floating bodies in the lake.”

Mr Nduwimana said that while the fisherman reported the bodies had been carried into the lake from the Akagera river, downstream of Rwanda, it was not yet possible to confirm their origin.

READ: Burundi says 40 corpses found in lake were Rwandans

In a new twist, the government of Burundi last week reportedly rounded up several Rwandans living and working in Burundi on suspicion of espionage.

Over 20 Rwandans, mainly business people operating in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, were rounded up by security forces on claims that they lacked the proper documents to guarantee their stay on Burundian soil. The 20 follow two others who are in detention on charges of interfering with the “sovereignty” of the country.

“They were on a mission. Even if you showed them the correct documents, they would still arrest you and say that they want the commercial visa,” Bonaventure Iyakaremye, a Rwandan trader who lives in Bujumbura told The EastAfrican.

A police officer told this paper that the operation is aimed at formalising business operations in the country but traders maintain that the commercial visa had been scrapped after Burundi and Rwanda joined the East African Community.

“The commercial visa was scrapped over five years ago but the police insists foreign businesses, including small scale traders should have it. It costs about $500 and on top of that, each person should show a bank statement showing that they have at least BFrw50 million ($32,000) in their account; if not, you are arrested,” said a businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

READ: Bodies in Lake Rweru: Rights groups demand truth

The traders claim that Rwandans in the country continue to face animosity. Two Rwandans who have been in detention in Burundi are accused of engaging in acts of espionage.

Efforts to reach the Rwandan embassy in Burundi proved futile while a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they were not aware of the arrests so far but promised to follow up.

Last week, Rwanda and Burundi disagreed on the source of bodies discovered in the lake with the Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo, dismissing claims by a Burundian official that the bodies discovered floating in Lake Rweru were from Rwanda.

Ms Mushikiwabo’s remarks came a few days after Burundi’s Prosecutor-General Valentin Bagorikunda told reporters that he was “certain” the bodies had originated from Rwanda. She accused Bujumbura of making serious accusations before sharing its findings with Kigali.
“Whatever we know of what the Prosecutor-General of Burundi said, we heard from the media, and not from the government of Burundi; what he said was not true,” Ms Mushikiwabo told journalists in Kigali on Friday last week.

“He only talked about the lake and its tributaries but he did not provide any evidence to back the claims that the bodies in question originated from Rwanda or that they are Rwandans per se,” Ms Mushikiwabo said Meanwhile, the UN resident co-ordinator in Rwanda Lamin Manneh said last week that the world body had not yet acted on the issue of the bodies.

“We have asked the government of Rwanda to investigate the source of the bodies and come up with a conclusive report,” Mr Manneh said.