Spokesman denies Congolese refugees detained

Burundi has denied allegations by the DRC that it is detaining 760 Congolese refugees in Rumonge in the southern province of Bururi. The refugees had fled across Lake Tanganyika to escape fighting in Baraka last month. UNHCR said their boat ran out of fuel and came ashore in Rumonge. However DRC Human Rights Minister Leonard Okitundu, in a statement broadcast by DRC television, accused the Burundian army of intercepting the boat and “arbitrarily detaining” the refugees. A spokesman for the Burundian justice ministry, Jean-Berckmans Kaburundi, told the BBC Kirundi service on Wednesday the refugees had been “well-received” in Rumonge and had been visited by humanitarian organisations, including UNHCR. He said the refugees were being given the choice of either returning to DRC or being lodged at a site in Rugombo, in Burundi’s Cibitoke province. “They cannot be detained since they aren’t accused of anything,” Kaburundi said.