Refugees stranded in no man's land

At least 1,000 Congolese Tutsi refugees, mostly women and children, have been stuck on the Burundi border with Democratic Republic the Congo (DRC) since the middle of last week, waiting on authorities in the Congo to let them back in. "Not a single organisation, either in Congo or Burundi had assisted us until [Monday]," Boniface Rukumbuzi, one of the refugees, told reporters. The only help had come from friends or other Congolese Tutsis living in Burundi, he said. The UN Operation in Burundi, known as ONUB, said it started distributing water to the refugees on Monday. Some 400 refugees arrived at Gatumba, on the Burundian side of the border on Wednesday from Burundi's capital, Bujumbura. Others joined them on Thursday from a transit centre run by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at Karurama in the northwestern province of Cibitoke. Burundian officials allowed the refugees to cross the border, but once on the DRC side soldiers there refused them entry. The refugees said the soldiers told them that they were taking their orders from higher government authorities. "A [DRC] government delegation told us we could [enter the DRC] today [Monday], but we have been hearing that since last week," Rukumbuzi said. Tension has risen in the DRC border town of Uvira, where residents last week organised violent protests again some 360 Congolese Tutsi refugees being allowed in from Burundi. Congolese Tutsi inhabitants of Uvira have said their neighbours have been accusing them of siding with dissidents in the DRC army. Fighting in June between army dissidents and loyalists caused an estimated 30,000 DRC citizens to seek refuge in Burundi. Many refugees remained at UNHCR transit camps near the border but since 13 August, when 160 of them were killed in an attack at the Gatumba transit camp, the Burundian government and UNHCR have been trying to move all the refugees to camps farther in Burundi. UNHCR said an estimated 3,000 of the refugees who fled in June wanted to remain in Burundi. The rest said they preferred to return to the DRC. However, a UNHCR official, who requested anonymity, said conditions were not conducive for their repatriation. "A legal framework between DRC, Burundi and UNHCR needs to be drawn up in order for the refugees to be repatriated," the official said. Meanwhile, Burundian Tutsis have fled their homes in the northern province of Kirundo into neighbouring Rwanda. In early October, UNHCR had registered at least 1,200. They are reportedly fleeing because of fear of violence if elections are not held as planned by 1 November. The governor of Kirundo, Philippe Njoni, visited the refugees on Thursday at Mamba in Rwanda's Gikonko Commune to try and convince them that it was safe for them to return. The Burundi news agency, ABP, reported that the site hosted 710 refugees. Also, 500 other refugees were at a site in Kigeme, some 150 km from the Burundi border inside Rwanda. Only around 50 refugees have agreed to return to Burundi, the agency reported.