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IOM Observer State since 2002
Capital: Bujumbura
Population (2011): 8.6 million
Area: 27,834 km sq
Languages: Kirundi, French, Swahili
Currency: Burundi Franc (BIF)
GDP per Capita PPP (2010): USD 409
HDI Rank (2011): 185 of 187
Remittances (2011 estimate): USD 28 million
Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): -0.4 migrants / 1,000 population
Immigrants (2010): 0.7%
Women as a Percentage of Immigrants (2010): 54.6%
Population under 15 (2011): 37.7%
Adult HIV Prevalence (2009): 3%
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Sources and Definitions
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Burundi is currently recovering from years of war, ethnic violence, and displacement. Since the signing of the peace agreement with the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) in 2006, its conversion into a political party in 2009 and the ongoing disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of its combatants, there is a realistic chance for durable peace in the country. However, as is typical for post-conflict countries, Burundi is nevertheless faced with enormous challenges, many of which touch upon migration issues. The forthcoming elections in 2010 will be an important test of the country’s stability.
Burundi has one of the highest population densities in the world. Since 2002 to date, approximately half a million refugees were registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to return to Burundi, while approximately 200,000 Burundians remain in Tanzania. In addition, the country still has an estimated 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The various groups of returnees add to the pressure on the land and livelihoods in rural and urban areas. Temporary labour migration and circular migration in the region, especially of farmers (e.g., to Tanzania), is part of a coping mechanism for Burundi to create peace and recovery in the country. However, so far, no migration policies or bilateral agreements exist to regulate such movements. IOM and the Government of Burundi have concluded negotiations for a Cooperation Agreement, set to be signed in early 2010. IOM is developing programming to build government capacities in migration management and policy formation, as well as projects facilitating the return and reintegration of Burundian nationals in Tanzania and elsewhere.
Donors
- Government of the United States of America
- Government of Australia
- Government of the Netherlands
- Government of Sweden
- Government of Norway
Refugee Resettlement Assistance (United States Resettlement Programme)
IOM is working in close collaboration with UNHCR in Burundi to make the refugee movement to third countries a reality and as less strenuous as possible. While UNHCR is responsible for ensuring the protection of refugees, IOM facilitates their movement to third countries.
Refugees seeking resettlement in third countries undergo interviews by the high commission of the receiving country before they may get approval for resettlement. On approval they are required to undergo medical assessment and cultural orientation before they can be resettled in the host country.
IOM recently established an office in Burundi and does not have a health assessment centre in the country. IOM Burundi therefore works in close collaboration with IOM’s regional office in Nairobi to facilitate health assessment for refugees who have been approved for resettlement before their departure. MRF Nairobi has a mobile medical team that is often sent for a health assessment mission. In an event that IOM is unable to send the mobile medical team, the organization can identify a credible health facility in the city to conduct medical assessment for the migrants.
Pre-departure health assessment aims to reduce and better manage the public health impact on receiving countries, facilitate the integration of migrants through detection and cost-effective management of health conditions as well as to provide information on the medical condition of migrants. A pre-departure health assessment also ensures that migrants are fit to travel. Medical escorts can be arranged for migrants who may need assistance and care during the journey.
Project
- Refugee Resettlement Assistance (United States Resettlement Programme)
MIDA Great Lakes
Since 2001, IOM has been implementing the Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) Great Lakes programme in Burundi, in close partnership with the Burundian Ministry of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security. The MIDA programme makes use of the competencies of the Burundian Diaspora in Europe to fill human resources gaps in institutions in the Great Lakes region. The programme focuses on the three priority sectors for economic and social development: health, education and rural development. The programme supports the exchange of knowledge and resources through (1) the transfer of skills by means of repeated short-term and medium-term missions, (2) the development of distance and e-learning courses, and (3) the long-term use of remittances to enhance development in the Great Lakes region. The MIDA concept will also be integrated into the Framework Strategy to Combat Poverty in Burundi in 2007.
Project
Technical Cooperation on Migration Management
IOM has been implementing since March 2010 a project on Migration Policy Development. IOM is assisting the Burundian Government in the development of a National Migration Policy through the implementation of activities such as some trainings, the establishment of an Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration, the assessment of the framework of migration management in the country and the drafting of the National Migration Policy. The key Ministries for this project are the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Security. Burundi benefits also from the project managed by IOM in Tanzania on Capacity Building in Migration Management (CBMM) with the support to PAFE (Police de l’Air, des Frontières et des Etrangers) at the central level and at the several borders posts.
Projects
- Support to the development of a National Migration Policy
Last updated:
Main text: August 2010
Facts and figures: May 2012
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