Burundi - Returnees

2020

The voluntary repatriation of 40,852 refugees from Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, and other countries to Burundi in 2020, including 40,774 who were assisted to return by UNHCR, constitutes a significant refugee return movement, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and is an important indicator of progress in the transition from conflict to greater stability in the Great Lakes region. The large-scale population movement has had significant impact, particularly in the southern and eastern regions receiving returnees. Returnees have told UNHCR that to them, reintegration means having access to land, food, and all assistance needed to be self-sustaining.

During this year, the repatriation of Burundian refugees from Rwanda began in a systematic and organized manner and no incidents of protection against them have been reported through UNHCR verification exercises and despite misinformation from local media. The Rwandan authorities have also indicated that international protection will continue to be guaranteed to Burundian refugees who declare being part of the current government opposition and who are not willing to return.

Cash grants for all Burundian returnees were increased from $40 to $70 until September 2020. In October, these increased to $150 for adults and $75 for children. Cash assistance is not a substitute for the existing return package, which consists of a range of food and core relief items, seeds and tools. Thus, returnees can use the cash grants to cover additional transport costs to their areas of return as well as access certain basic primary services such as health insurance.

UNHCR and UNDP, working together, updated the joint reintegration plan for Burundi in 2020 (the JRRRP or Joint Refugee Response Reintegration Plan). The plan aims to structure reintegration actions by sector, by defining a comprehensive strategy to support the voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees, followed by reintegration actions to ensure the sustainability of this repatriation. The plan could help to mobilize the resources needed to respond to repatriation, well beyond the purely humanitarian phase. The data collected by UNHCR during the first phase of voluntary repatriation and during the first weeks of monitoring have showed the situation on the ground and focused the actors' vision on the major challenges.

Amidst COVID-19, those who voluntarily received support at transit centres before returning to their areas of origin. 34% of returnee households who had a home before taking refuge found it after monitoring. The authorities have supported returnees during land disputes.