Burundi has been caught in a violent political nightmare since 2015, ignited by President Nkurinziza’s questionable re-election for a third term. The ensuing violence has claimed many lives and blighted many more.
The U.N.’s refugee agency, UNHCR, is reporting multiple counts of rape of both men and women, and reports of increased violence by Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party. Arrests, disappearances, and beatings continue unabated, and it seems there’s no peace in sight for the foreseeable future.
Despite its scale, the Burundian crisis has received little media attention outside of Africa. The probability of the troubles descending into an ethnic conflict is now a very real one, and the potential repercussions are not being recognized beyond the immediate region.
But it would be a disaster of very serious proportions if this was allowed to escalate, not least because it would be extremely difficult to stop the violence from spreading to Rwanda, which could undo 20 years of painstaking work by all parties to move on from that country’s 1994 genocide.
