EU Presidency declaration on murderous attack on a Burundi refugee camp

It is with horror and great indignation that the European Union has learned of the attack perpetrated in the evening of Friday 13 August on a refugee camp in Burundi, just across the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the first reports more than 135 Banyamulenge (Tutsi) refugees from the DRC were killed during the attack on the refugee camp. They were mainly women, children and babies that had previously fled the violence in the east of the DRC. About a hundred other people were wounded during the attack. The responsibility for another simultaneous attack of a nearby army camp and gendarmerie station has been claimed by the Burundian rebel movement FNL. Currently it is unclear whether the FNL was involved in the murders in the refugee camp. According to the information available the assailants crossed the border with the DRC after the attack.

In line with the measures already announced by Burundian President Ndayizeye, the Presidency of the European Union expects that every effort will be made to establish the identity of the perpetrators of this cowardly and despicable attack, to arrest them and bring them to trial. The Presidency urges the Burundian government to guarantee the safety of the Burundian refugees and the population in Burundi as much as possible and in close cooperation with the UN.

This bloody attack indicates once again that it is necessary for all parties involved in the conflict in Burundi to intensify their efforts, without hesitation, in order to reach real and enduring peace. In this context the Presidency has stressed that the FNL needs to omit all violence and enter negotiations toward a peace treaty without further delay. An immediate cease-fire between the FNL and the government is the first step in this direction. The Summit of the Regional Initiative that will be held this week in Dar es Salaam is an excellent occasion to further implement the Arusha Agreement and to clear the way for elections.

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• EU Presidency and EU special representative to visit Burundi  (19/8/2004)
• EU Presidency declaration on the electoral process in Burundi (16/7/2004)
• EU Presidency declaration on the UNSC decision to establish an UN peacekeeping mission in Burundi  (28/5/2004)
• EU Presidency declaration on the outcome of talks between the Government of Burundi and the FNL (27/1/2004)