Addressing the Council, Burundi’s Foreign Minister Severin Ntahomvukiye denied there was a widespread national catastrophe or massacres in his country, according to a UN press release. On regroupment, he said the government had taken special measures for the protection of people and rejected accusations that the camps were part of a policy of ethnic cleansing. He however announced that 10 out of about 50 such camps in Bujumbura Rural province would soon be closed in the presence of monitors, and gradually all the camps would be dismantled. Contrary to information being circulated, all the camps were open to observers and humanitarian workers, he said. He added that Bujumbura Rural had become a testing ground for “destabilisation forces” in what could be described as the “somalisation” of the country.
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