Burundi: Nkurunziza sworn in, urges refugees to return

| August 31, 2015

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Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in as Burundi’s president last week. He urged tens of thousands of people who left the country because of political violence to return home, and asked citizens to end the continuing violence in the capital and some rural districts.

According to the UN Human Rights office, at least 96 people have been killed since the start of election-related violence in April. The UN refugee agency says more than 181,000 people fled Burundi because of the violence.

Deogratias Ndayishimiye is an opposition politician living in exile. He says: “We now consider that Burundi has no president. Politicians … and other stakeholders need to sit down and form a transitional government which will prepare credible and democratic elections.”

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Photo: Burundian families who fled their country wait to be registered as refugees at Nyarugusu camp in northwest Tanzania on June 11, 2015. Credit: Stephanie Aglietti / AFP / Getty Images