Army denies evicting people from camps

The Burundian army has denied evicting thousands of people from two displaced people’s camps in Bujumbura, saying the move had been envisaged for a long time. Army spokesman Colonel Longin Minani told IRIN on Friday the army was carrying out the government’s programme, according to which displaced people should return to their homes when security conditions permitted. Press reports on Thursday said several thousands people had been evicted from the Johnson and Legentil camps in Bujumbura. Colonel Minani said it was important to draw a distinction between displaced people in the capital and those in Bujumbura Rural, where the situation was still insecure and people had to remain in the protection sites. “People cannot stay in camps forever,” he said. “Those in Johnson and Legentil knew they had to go home.” He said the majority were from areas of Bujumbura such as Kamenge and Gihosha where their houses were intact and from where they could cultivate their fields. They were safer there than in the Johnson and Legentil camps which were infiltrated by the rebels, he added. Humanitarian sources told IRIN the last 4,000 civilians were ordered out of Johnson’s camp on Thursday, bringing to around 12,000 people the number moved in the past fortnight. The army encircled the camp in the early hours of Thursday morning, ordering everyone to leave by midday, which they did, the sources confirmed.