Formerly "asylum seekers", now "illegal immigrants"

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is assisting people from Rwanda who fled to Burundi in April even though the governments of the two countries have decided to term the people "illegal immigrants" rather than "asylum seekers". "UNHCR is continuing to provide assistance to the Rwandans," Catherine-Lune Grayson, UNHCR's public relations officer in Burundi, said on Tuesday. She would not, however, comment directly on a joint communiqué issued on Monday by officials for the border provinces of Burundi and Rwanda in which the Rwandans were reclassified illegal. The communiqué was issued following a meeting on Monday in Burundi's northern Ngozi Province to improve security on the Rwandan and Burundian border. Roughly 4,000 Rwandans arrived in northern Burundi in April, many claiming they where persecuted in Rwanda. UNHCR classified them "asylum seekers". However, local officials at the meeting said the Rwandans failed to pass through official channels when entering Burundi. "They did not use legal procedures for requesting asylum," Eraste Kabera, the prefect of Rwanda's Butare Prefecture, said on a local radio station after the meeting. The communiqué said anyone wishing to cross the border must have a valid reason and that persecution would not be accepted. "Peace and security now prevail in both countries", the communiqué stated. It also said that anyone found to be purveying false rumours of persecution in Rwanda would be prosecuted. The illegal Rwandans would not be forcibly repatriated according to the communiqué, however, Kabera said on local radio, "The Rwandans will be prosecuted by the Burundian law for illegal migration." Kabera added, "Rwanda will not intervene in the treatment of Rwandans currently on Burundian territory." The illegal Rwandans are currently scattered in various locations in Burundi's northern Ngozi, Kirundo and Muyinga provinces. The largest group of around 1,950 Rwandans is at a camp at Gatsinda, in Kirundo Province, according to UNHRC. Some 1,491 others are in Mivo Commune in Ngozi Province.