by NADINE NIBIGIRA
As Burundian citizens flee to safety, hoping to find a better life abroad, they continue to engage in discourses concerning developments in their home country and the reasons for their flight. Nadine Nigibira explores the link between political conflicts in Burundi and the emergence of the Burundian diaspora, arguing it is predominantly the product of the various cycles of conflict that plague Burundi’s past. Diasporic engagement both strives to inspire change and taking part in politics at home from abroad.
This blog forms part of the Idjwi Series which results from a writing retreat on Idwji Island in Lake Kivu, DRC during which regional researchers gathered to present and refine their research.
In the last five decades, Burundi has experienced cyclic crises related to the country’s political management. I demonstrate how these conflict cycles have provoked Burundian citizens to flee the country over time, making their homes abroad and ‘producing’ diasporic groupings. Using a socio-criminological approach, I dissect the relationship between internal Burundian political life and the emergence of this fractionalised diaspora.
When we speak of diaspora, we refer to a group of people sharing the same nationality and living in a country other than their own. The Burundian diaspora is organised around formalised institutions, with structured bodies of decision-making frameworks that seek to create interactions between Burundian citizens by guiding discussions around current Burundian politics. Organisations such as Burundian Diaspora of Belgium (DBB), Alliance of Burundians of Canada (ABC) and Burundian Diaspora of Sweden (DBS) can be conceived as the result of various political crises in Burundi, in which members discuss these issues while seeking solutions to improve the state of the country.
For example, the 2015 Burundian crisis led part of the Burundian diaspora living in Europe to found a ‘Crisis Committee’ charged with organising events and other commemorations in the region. This committee subsequently created the famous political platform constituted of opponents in exile called the National Council for the Respect of the Arusha Agreement (CNARED). The same committee spearheaded other initiatives concerned with the resolution of internal crises, such as the 2018 Citizen Forum.
Waves of migration to far and neighbouring countries
Since its independence in 1962, Burundi has experienced several waves of forced migrations (1965, 1972, 1988, 1993 and 2015) in response to socio-political violence. The main causes of violence have been varied inter-communal conflicts, including collective and individual violence such as that perpetrated against Hutu in 1972 and Tutsi in 1993, or the contestation of President Nkurunziza’s third political mandate in 2015. While the ethnic dimensions of Burundian experiences of violence are complex, notably a colonial and postcolonial mode of governance politicised Tutsi and Hutu as opposed ethnic groups. Until today, these complex political and social identities are crucial in the matrix of all political crises experiences in the country and the Great Lakes region. Tensions within and between the groups are also observed within Burundian diaspora, in terms of power alliances and support. Thus, the Burundian diaspora was established in different host countries over more than 50 years, mobilising themselves to support victims of, and draw attention to, the insecurity and political instability prevailing in Burundi.
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