Kenya/Burundi: Situation of stateless Tutsis

Specific references to stateless members of the Tutsi ethnic group in the abovementioned countries could not be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC.

The attached documents provide information on the situation of refugees in Kenya and Burundi. These refugees include Tutsis, a numerous ethnic group inhabiting neighbouring countries of the region. The documents attached to this response and the response to your Information Request KEN7993 indicate the number of Tutsi refugees in Burundi may exceed 200,000.

The most recent reports attached to this response refer to a meeting of national governments of the region to discuss the situation of Rwandans and other refugees, apparently prompted by the abovementioned invasion which, among other consequences, renewed international concern for the situation of refugees in the area. Five national leaders reportedly reached a commitment to "allow hundreds of thousands of refugees either to return home or become naturalized citizens in their new countries", adding that "Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire had agreed to naturalise refugees not wishing to return" (Reuters, 20 Feb. 1991). Information on the State practices following this declared commitment is not yet available to the IRBDC.

In one of the attached documents (Africa Watch, 11 December 1990), a sudden change in Kenyan practice regarding refugees is reported. The document states that the expulsion of Ugandan and Rwandan refugees was related to the October 1990 invasion of Rwanda by rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a predominantly Tutsi group. The source indicates that Kenyan President Moi said "Rwandese refugees were using Kenya as a base for subversive activities", and his government has proceeded to the summary deportation of Rwandese refugees who had been residing in Kenya for many years. The document adds that the expulsion of Rwandese refugees from Kenya is "specifically linked to the recent invasion", while "Ugandan refugees have suffered a history of persecution in Kenya", including periodic expulsions and harassment in times of political and economic problems. The attached sections of the World Refugee Survey, World Refugee Report and Country Reports for Human Rights Practices for 1989 provide some information on the recent policies and practices affecting refugees in Kenya and Burundi. However, no specific reference to the ethnicity or statelessness of those refugees are contained in these reports.

Additional information on ethnic-related issues concerning Tutsis can be found in the attachments included with the response to your Information Request KEN7993. A point that may be pertinent to your inquiry and the situation of Tutsis in Kenya is that the majority of the force invading Rwanda in October 1990 was Tutsi, a group that has faced problems in Rwanda "ever since the majority Hutu people rose up to overthrow the Tutsi monarchy in 1959", together with a number of "anti-government Hutus" (Africa Confidential, 12 october 1990, p. 1).

Attachments

-News from Africa Watch (New York, Africa Watch), 11 December 1990;

-World Refugee Survey: 1989 in Review (Washington, D.C.: U. S. Committee for Refugees, 1990), pp. 38-39;

-World Refugee Report (Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of State, 1990), pp. 17-19;

-Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989 (Washington: U.S. Department of State, 1990), p. 42;

-From the BBC Summary of World Broadcasts: "Declaration of Dar Es Salaam summit on Rwandan refugees", 23 February 1991; "Ugandan report of decisions of summit meeting on Rwandan Refugees", 21 February 1991;

-"African leaders agree on Rwandan peace plan", Reuters, 20 February 1991.