Burundi: Report

INDICATORS:

The following are basic indicators on the situation of Burundian children and adolescents. The lack of concrete statistics in many of these areas highlights the need for United Nations (UN) agencies to gather, compile and disseminate data to ensure that children’s rights are monitored and protected

(Note: Statistics are based on reports from various organizations that have conducted research in Burundi and among Burundian refugees in other areas. See Sources below.)

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS:

SUMMARY

Burundian children and adolescents live in extremely precarious conditions and are in urgent need of attention and protection. There is little data available detailing the specifics of their situation. This report is in part intended to draw attention to gaps in child-specific information and garner support for efforts to monitor, report on and improve the crisis hitting Burundian children.

Burundi is plagued by pervasive poverty, and has faced risk of drought and food shortages in recent years. Under these difficult circumstances Burundian children are bombarded with violence and its consequences. They have been forced to perpetrate and witness violence, displaced from their homes, left as heads of households, subject to HIV/AIDS, and are victims of sexual violence including rape of young girls. Many children and adolescents live in extreme poverty with little access to healthcare and education. They face abductions and forcible recruitment as soldiers. Nearly 25,000 children are identified as orphaned or unaccompanied because of the war and approximately 10,500 are identified as having physical and mental handicaps, including speech impediments, physical trauma related to the war, mental illnesses, blindness and deafness. Both the physical and psychological repercussions of violence and conflict on Burundian children are considerable. The lack of gender disaggregated data hinders any complete and in-depth analysis of the differences and severity of the situation for girls and women.

According to a UNICEF survey of 2,770 children in the mid 1990’s, over 2,500 reported witnessing acts of violence and 93 percent showed signs of troubled behaviour. While these children came from three particularly troubled provinces, the results demonstrate the severity of the psychological impact of conflict on Burundian children, including the manifestation of clinical symptoms of trauma.

The government signed – but has not yet ratified - the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on Children and Armed Conflict in 2001. Yet, little progress has been made towards improving child protection in this and other areas. The CRC, ratified by Burundi in 1990, safeguards the child’s right to life, protection, survival and development. However, these and other children’s rights continue to be violated, leaving the children of Burundi in immediate need of protection.

CONTEXT

Since ethnic and political strife began in Burundi in the mid-1960s it is estimated that more than 250,000 people have been killed and many more injured and traumatised. Since 1993 the country has been ravaged by civil war between the Tutsi-dominated security forces and allied-armed groups, and Hutu-dominated armed opposition groups. The opposition consists of several political movements, each with its own armed branch, including the Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD – commonly referred to as FDD) and the Front for National Liberation (FNL). The armed opposition groups operate extensively from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.

Under the auspices of the Arusha Peace Process, in August 2000, the government and 19 other Burundian groups signed an agreement aimed at ending the ongoing ethnic and political conflict. However, the two main armed opposition groups, the FNL and the FDD did not participate. In November 2001 a broad-based transitional government was installed according to the Arusha Accords. But, with the FDD and FNL outside the cease-fire, violence and insecurity continued. Most recent attempts to reach a broad cease-fire have brought little success, although the FDD and FNL have both announced readiness to participate in dialogue.

The civil war in Burundi is set in a broader regional context, both politically and militarily. Since 1998, opposition forces in Rwanda and the DRC reportedly have been supporting the Burundian armed groups. For example, the Congolese government is alleged to assist the FDD and has reportedly used FDD forces to defend the city of Lubumbashi in the mineral-rich Katanga province in south-eastern DRC. Similarly, Burundian-armed groups are believed to support opposition forces in Rwanda and the DRC. The Angolan armed group UNITA is also thought to support Burundian opposition forces with weapons and training. In some instances, Rwandan government soldiers have reportedly operated in Burundi in cooperation with the government.

Children and adolescents are left to grow up in a devastated society. The fear, impunity, ethnic discrimination, and widespread poverty that plague Burundi and the region define the environment in which they live. They are victimized by circumstances beyond their control and can be manipulated into further perpetuating cycles of conflict and violence. The poor security situation that causes and perpetuates many of the violations against children and adolescents, is also a direct cause of reduced humanitarian access to children in need, including food aid, medical care, and protection. This lack of humanitarian access to many parts of the country is consequently responsible for the lack of detailed and current information about many aspects of the children’s situation.

HEALTH

The Convention on the Rights of the Child upholds the child’s right to the highest attainable standard of health and access to medical services. According to the Convention, the State must attempt to diminish infant and child mortality, combat disease and malnutrition, ensure health care for expectant mothers, provide access to health education, develop preventive health care and abolish harmful traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. However, data and reports from Burundi depict a very different picture of the health situation.

According to statistics compiled by Save the Children (UK) in 2001:

• 48,000 children under the age of five die each year
• 18 percent of children die before their fifth birthday
• Malaria, upper respiratory tract infections and dysentery – treatable diseases - are the most common causes of child deaths
• Up to 30 children die from malaria every day
• Children are at high risk of malnutrition

Vaccination levels for Burundian youth are very low and vaccination campaigns are hampered by insecurity. Children are at high risk of malnutrition due to poor food supplies, the destruction of the agricultural infrastructure and abject poverty. A malaria epidemic was identified in 2000 and in 2001 2.7 million cases were reported. In January 2002, UNICEF said that the number of malaria cases was decreasing, but that the outbreak was not yet completely under control.

The severe insecurity situation impedes access to health centers and the likelihood of children and adolescents receiving needed medical care. Because of the conflict approximately 30 per cent of the country’s 320 health centers have been destroyed. The remaining suffer from chronic shortages of medicine and personnel and continue to be pillaged and attacked by armed groups in search of medical supplies. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) many medical staff in the provinces have been killed, disappeared, fled the country or sought refuge in more secure urban areas - where a smaller proportion of the population lives. Births often take place at home and in precarious sanitary environments. Health centers specifically servicing the needs of youth are limited in both number and capacity.

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is the primary cause of adult mortality and the primary public health concern in Burundi. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread rapidly, reaching alarming rates in recent years. In December 2001, reports from the Burundian government indicated that the urban HIV infection rate had reached 18.6 percent, up from one percent in 1990. There are grave concerns about rising rates among the rural population, which was estimated at 7.5 percent in 2000.  

A fact sheet from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 39,000 people died of AIDS in 1999. It also estimates that 230,000 children under age 15 suffered the death of their mother or both parents due to AIDS since the outset of the epidemic. UNICEF reports that approximately 16,000 children are currently living as orphans from AIDS and many are living as heads of households because of AIDS deaths. The number of pediatric AIDS cases is also reportedly increasing due to high prevalence among HIV infected young pregnant women and lack of awareness of the possibility of HIV transmission from mother to child. As a result, AIDS is becoming a key cause of infant mortality.

Ongoing conflict and insecurity, enormous population displacements, gross lack of information, dissemination of misinformation, sexual violence and exploitation and breakdown in social norms, stable relationships and family life all exacerbate the spread of HIV/AIDS. According to Save the Children (UK), it is not uncommon for women and children, particularly girls, to be coerced into having sex to obtain basic needs, such as shelter, security, food and money. This and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls perpetuate the spread of the virus. Rape and sexual violence also facilitate the spread of the virus. The lack of health services and information about HIV/AIDS hampers the distribution of condoms and inhibits treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS.

Burundians, particularly youth, often do not have access to accurate information and education about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, which allows for the spread of myths, stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. Save the Children (UK) reports that some Burundians believe that condoms carry the HIV virus. Other accounts explain that the stigma surrounding condoms negatively impacts utilization rates among youth, and that some youth actually believe that use of condoms suggests HIV infection. Reports from the field explain that belief in the "virgin sex myth" – that a young virgin can cure HIV infection or that she does not already carry the infection – is causing seduction and rape of increasingly younger girls. According to a 2001 UNFPA assessment on Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health in Burundi, "It is strongly believed that the frequency of unprotected sex among youth has led to an increase in STDs [sexually transmitted diseases] and HIV transmission."

Dr. Joseph Wakana, Director of Burundi’s HIV/AIDS Secretariat explained that, "If AIDS continues at this rate, the projection is that by 2010 life expectancy will drop below 40 years, compared to 60 years if there were no AIDS."

REFUGEES AND IDPS

According to the UN Special Coordinator for Internally Displaced "Burundi is facing one of the most acute problems of population displacement in Africa today." However, little work has been done to highlight the specific situation of Burundian refugee and IDP children. It is well known among the international community that the majority of refugees and IDPs are women and children.

According to the US Committee for Refugees more than 1 million Burundians - approximately one sixth of the population - were uprooted at the end of 2000. Currently OCHA estimates that more than 375,000 people are displaced; this number may exclude over 100,000 more dispersed from regroupment camps. The majority of IDPs live in camps, others are dispersed throughout the country, living in forests, marshes, or with relatives and friends. Some of the displaced wind up in refugee and IDP camps for many years, while others are displaced for days or weeks. In January 2002, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that approximately 30,000 Burundians, mostly women and children, had been recently displaced due to increased fighting in the hills around Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura. Spurts of displacement due to intense fighting continue to occur on a regular basis.

IDP camps are often squalid, rampant with disease and lacking clean water and stable shelter. According to OCHA, the main problems of IDPs include: insecurity and deplorable living conditions; temporary inaccessibility of humanitarian aid to the sites; restricted or no access to education and health care; lack of IDP participation in administration of sites; and absence of a governmental plan of action to support and protect displaced populations. In addition, children in the camps are particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment. In some instances the IDP camps have been in existence for so long they are thought of as settlement camps – yet conditions remain very poor. Reports from the field describe a discernable disparity between conditions and protection in different IDP camps, with camps in the northern part of the country with primarily Tutsi populations being better serviced and generally more secure.

In violation of international humanitarian law and standards, including the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol II and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, in 1996 and again in 1999 the Burundian government forced hundreds of thousands of civilians into regroupment camps under the guise of protection from rebel groups – but in fact in hopes of isolating opposition fighters and stifling their support. According to the 2000 Human Rights Watch report, Emptying the Hills: Regroupment in Burundi, by the end of 1999, authorities had forced some 80 percent of the population of the province of Bujumbura-rural - some 350,000 people - to live in 53 camps. Conditions inside the camps were appalling and some were completely inaccessible to humanitarian organizations. According to the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, women and children were especially vulnerable when food was short and were victims of rape and sexual abuse in the camps. Government soldiers also  recruited children to spy for them in the camps, to help them loot property, and to serve as lookouts, scouts, and porters when they are on patrol. In the face of intense international criticism, President Buyoya agreed to close the camps - most were closed by the summer of 2000.

It is estimated that more than 545,000 Burundians are refugees living primarily in Tanzania and the DRC. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that another 150,000 unregistered Burundians move back and forth along the borders due to rebel incursions. These refugees have faced abductions, expulsions and harassment. Like IDP children, refugee children are particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment. In November 2001, Amnesty International reported that armed opposition groups abducted 107 Burundian refugee children from refugee camps in Tanzania. Government forces reportedly freed 15 of the youths, while two schoolchildren escaped by crossing the border from Tanzania where the others were being held for military training. In late December 2001, UNHCR reported that approximately 60 Burundian refugee families were unexpectedly expelled from the Ubwari Peninsula of eastern DRC. After 30 more Burundian refugees were expelled from Goma in February 2002, UNHCR expressed concern that more Burundians could be expelled.

Since the establishment of the transitional government, controversy has ensued about repatriation of refugees in Tanzania. After joint assessments by UNHCR and the Burundian government, UNHCR said it would not call for immediate repatriation due to ongoing insecurity, but it would assist those who wished to return voluntarily. At the same time, the US Committee for Refugees reports that, "Rebel violence, including the abductions of school children and teachers…have dampened prospects for immediate refugee repatriation." 

Rights groups are concerned about reported abuses against refugees choosing to repatriate and also that refugees may be forcibly repatriated in violation of international standards. Further concerns surround insecurity in the areas of origin and the lack of adequate assistance for those who have recently returned. By early April, approximately 50,300 people had reportedly signed up to go home, compared to approximately 27,000 refugees in all of 2001. On the other hand, the Burundian and Tanzanian governments are calling for Burundian refugees to return home.

Burundi hosts approximately 6,000 refugees. Most are from the DRC and approximately 1,000 are from Rwanda.

Gender-based Violence (GBV)

Both women and children face violence and abuse on a daily basis from government and rebel forces. In 2000, Human Rights Watch issued a comprehensive report focusing on the high levels of GBV, including sexual and domestic violence, among Burundian refugees in Tanzania. According to the report, both Burundians inside the camps and local Tanzanians perpetrate violence against women and girls.

In a random survey of Burundian refugees carried out by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Tanzania in 2000, women and girls reported cases of rape, forced marriages and other forms of sexual violence and harassment. The survey states that young women are clearly at a greater risk for sexual violence and harassment and that refugee camps are highly dangerous places, where the risk of sexual violence is quite high. Refugees International reports that rapes of minors and girls under age ten have increased drastically in Tanzanian refugee camps in the past year – these cases tend to be reported more than those of adults. The group also reported that some camp leaders have described an increase in girls having sex in exchange for personal supplies.

Education

Access to education is limited or non-existent for many internally displaced children and adolescents. Among those who do go to school the conditions are often dismal. According to reports from one school in Bujumbura, the pupils come "from all four corners of Burundi."  They live in temporary homes and in difficult conditions, which are not conducive to concentrating on schoolwork. 

While many refugee youth also have limited access to education, UN agencies, NGOs and others have made significant efforts to provide educational opportunities in camps. According to UNHCR, Burundian refugee camps in Tanzania include primary school, secondary school and vocational training programs. UNHCR, NGOs, and Tanzanian authorities support these programs. In 2000, over 70 percent of school age children in the camps reportedly attended primary school. However, secondary school and formal vocational training reach only fewer refugees, mostly those who have been in Tanzania for a long time, and who have English-language capacity. Moreover, there are few options for school-leavers and dropouts, which increases the risk of widespread youth delinquency in the camps.

According to Refugees International, two-thirds of all girls in Burundian refugee camps in Tanzania dropout of school between fourth and sixth grade. Girls represent an average of only 12 percent of the student body in the camps’ secondary schools. Refugees International explains that the high dropout rates for girls are the result of both cultural and financial factors, including lack of clothing, soap and other basic supplies. However, the link between girls’ education and improved quality of life in the short and long term receives little attention in the camps.

Street and Unaccompanied Children

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children identifies street children and unaccompanied minors in Burundi as a group that could possibly be considered a category of IDPs. Orphaned and separated children are exposed to a range of abuses and rights violations, including police violence, arbitrary arrest, and general insecurity. They often live in abysmal conditions, sleeping outdoors, begging on the streets, and suffering from malnutrition and violence.

According to UNICEF, the percentage of children facing these violations is relatively high throughout Burundi.  It is estimated that there are up to 3,000 street children and 4,500 unaccompanied children in Bujumbura alone, as well as 30,500 war orphans and many other HIV/AIDS orphans, 5,000 child headed households and 7,000 separated children throughout Burundi.

Some local and international groups have initiated tracing and fostering programs for these children. According to Save the Children (UK) the problem of street children in Burundi would be worse if it were not for a traditional concept in Burundian society that every child is considered everybody’s child. As a result, separated children are often absorbed into extended family networks. Some unaccompanied and separated children may be victims of abuse and exploitation at the hands of their foster families, even extended family members. Those living in orphanages frequently face even more severe problems. Documentation of specific incidents is unavailable.

LANDMINES

Ongoing civil strife in Burundi has caused significant contamination by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). However, there has never been a wide-reaching assessment of the mine problem, including the extent of contamination and the impact on children and adolescents. As in all situations involving landmines and UXOs, children and adolescents are the most vulnerable to injury, death and devastation due to landmines. Reports on landmine-related deaths between 1995 and 2000 vary widely from 80 to 791 deaths.

Extensive contamination is believed to exist primarily in the southern provinces and along the Tanzanian border. It is alleged that both the Burundian government and rebel groups have used mines along the Tanzanian border, endangering the lives of civilians fleeing into Tanzania and those returning to Burundi. The government denies any use of landmines. Unconfirmed reports state that mines are also scattered along the border with DRC, in areas around the capital, including Tenga and the Rukoko forest, and in some locations in Bujumbura rural. Medical NGOs continue to treat cases of civilians, including children, wounded by landmines around the capital.

According to the Landmine Monitor Report 2001, both government and rebel forces are thought to use antipersonnel mines. Reports from humanitarian aid workers, escaped child soldiers and others describe government use of mines to protect economic infrastructure and isolated military outposts, to prevent cross-border incursions by rebel forces based in Tanzania and to prevent the local population, including youth, from fleeing into Tanzania. Burundi has signed, but not ratified, the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The government denies all allegations that it uses mines and blames rebel groups for continued contamination.

SMALL ARMS

Massive amounts of small arms and light weapons have devastating humanitarian impact, including killings, restricted mobility, instability, accidental use and fueling the conflict. They are particularly threatening to children and facilitate the participation of children in violence. However, it is difficult to obtain clear and documented information on these weapons and their direct impact on youth. A number of factors are thought to contribute to the abundance of automatic weapons, including government self-defense programs that deliver arms to civilians in many regions and the relative ease of purchasing arms inside the country, including on the gray and black markets.

It is commonly known that arms are shipped into Burundi through DRC, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and other neighboring countries. While the origins of these arms remains extremely difficult to track, they are suspected to originate in the former Soviet republics, areas of eastern and western Europe, China, Iran and arms-producing countries in Africa. Rebel groups are widely believed to receive arms through purchases from rebel counterparts fighting in DRC, Rwanda and elsewhere. These same weapons make their way back into Burundi and are used in conflict and resold to civilians. 

EDUCATION

The situation for education in Burundi is desperate. UNICEF reports the Gross Primary School Enrolment ratio for boys at 38 percent and 37 percent for girls. The ratio for Secondary School is only 9 percent for boys and 5 percent for girls. UNICEF’s 2001 report on The Situation of Children and Women in Burundi describes the absence of an appropriate educational policy for girls to deal with problems of sexual discrimination. The generally low rates are in large part explained by the massive disruption and displacement caused by the conflict. Yet even in the last "normal" year, 1992 to 1993, only 52 percent of primary age children were going to school.

Rebel forces and the military have targeted ethnically mixed schools with burning and looting. Thousands of teachers and administrators have been killed, displaced or forced to flee. According to the US Committee for Refugees nearly 400 primary schools - a quarter of all schools in the country - were destroyed as a result of the conflict. Other schools were damaged while in use as temporary shelters for the displaced or continue to be used for housing. Furniture and textbooks have also been destroyed. Because of the limited number of schools, classes are generally very large, between 70 and 120 students. Deliberate attacks on schools continue to disrupt education and worsen the already difficult situation.

Many children are forced to abandon school, as they do not have the financial means to attend. Although school fees are generally low, the war and continued insecurity make it difficult for many families to find enough to eat, let alone to find additional funds for schooling. As a consequence, many families are simply not able to send their children to school or send only one child per family. Child labor, whether to cultivate family fields, for itinerant commerce and other forms also result in school dropout.

In interviews with the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children in 2000, Burundian women expressed concern about children’s and adolescents’ lack of access to school. They reiterated the needs to raise levels of school attendance and literacy, and again offer children and adolescents alternatives to violence and prostitution. Since 2000, the access to education has further deteriorated due to insecurity. Unconfirmed reports indicate that state funding for educational and other social programs is unevenly allocated around the country in favor of the Tutsi population, thereby limiting access to secondary school and university and professional opportunities for certain groups.

In 2001 the Government passed a decree decentralizing responsibility for identifying the most needy children and provision of school fees, materials and uniforms, passing the responsibility to local authorities. However, the local communities do not have sufficient resources and capacity to fulfill this obligation. As a result, the rights of many children, particularly girls, to primary education continue to go unrealized.

TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION

Accurate and comprehensive information on the situation of trafficking and exploitation against women and children is scarce. However, scattered reports indicate the broad scope of these problems.  The report of a 2000 International Conference on Networking against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Eastern Africa concluded that sexual exploitation and trafficking of Burundian children is mainly the result of massive regional displacement of people and the breakdown of nuclear families because of war. Reports show that victims primarily include children from broken families, street children and children living alone in camps. It also shows that no organized support system exists for the victims. The perpetrators reportedly include those charged with children’s care. 

In 2001, the Global March Against Child Labour and the Panafrican News agency reported that at least 600 young Burundians, primarily girls, were illegally trafficked under the guise of adoption to various European capitals for prostitution. Under the CRC, children have the right to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and involvement in pornography and the State is obligated to prevent the abduction, sale and trafficking of children. These rights are largely unprotected in Burundi.

Child Labor

Detailed information on the child labor problem is not clearly documented and available.  UNICEF reports that nearly one-third of Burundian children are engaged in economic activity or some form of child labor. This prevents the child’s realization of fundamental rights, including education and increases risks of sexual exploitation and disease. The worst forms of child labor reportedly disproportionately affect girls as they are forced into domestic work that can result in mental and physical abuse and violation. In addition, girls are often forced to stay home and work in the fields or collect water, while boys are given a priority for education. Burundi ratified the International Labor Minimum Age Convention (C-138) in 1973, which specifies the minimum age at 16-years old. It has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (C-182).

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Cases of gender-based violence (GBV), including rape, sexual violence, prostitution and domestic violence, against Burundian women and girls are widespread. Although detailed statistics are not available, the large number of cases that are reported to human rights groups attest to the gravity of the problem. Further, rights groups explain that many incidents of sexual violence against women and girls go unreported. The Ligue Iteka, a local human rights group, reported in its 2002 annual report that the victims are minors in the majority of cases where the age of the victim is known. The youngest reported girl victim was five years old.

Details in the Iteka report indicate that in official testimony victims do not identify uniformed military or police personnel as accused attackers in the majority of cases. However, according to reports from the field, in unofficial testimony victims tend with more frequency to name uniformed personnel, either soldiers, rebels or bandits, as their attackers. This discrepancy highlights the atmosphere of fear of armed forces among the civilian population and the broader culture of impunity in Burundi, particularly for members of armed forces. Moreover, Human Rights Watch was able to document the problem of GBV by armed forces in a December 2001 report describing human rights abuses, including rape, by government-sponsored paramilitaries known as the "Guardians of the Peace."

CHILD SOLDIERS

Children who fight along with the Burundian army or with rebel groups are commonly known as "doriya" in the country. Many of these children are orphans or come from broken homes, due to the ongoing conflict. In exchange for something to eat and protection, they agree to work for these groups, largely as domestics and gophers, in the beginning. Eventually, they are used as spies, porters and are often incorporated directly into the forces. It appears that they are viewed as expendable and are allegedly made to march in front of the troops and sent on particularly dangerous missions. Although in some cases children may have agreed to do this work, there are instances of abduction and coercion by both sides to recruit children.

In October 2001, UNICEF announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between UNICEF and the Burundian government allowing UNICEF to launch a child-soldier demobilization and reintegration project, with the collaboration of the government, UN agencies and NGOs. As part of the MOU, the Burundian government agreed to take part in a census of child soldiers to determine how many minors are fighting in the country’s civil war. The project aims to demobilize former child combatants even while the conflict continues, as well as after a cease-fire is signed and implemented.

Government

According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, youth under 18 years old have been recruited in substantial numbers by government allied forces since the start of the civil war in 1993. Estimates of the number of children and adolescents recruited by the armed forces vary considerably, from a low of 2,000 to a high of 16,000.  Human Rights Watch documented an extreme case of a seven-year-old boy recruited into the "Guardians of the Peace," a government-sponsored paramilitary group. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that the "Guardians of the Peace" claim that all members of a community, including children, have a duty to ensure protection for all.

The age of compulsory recruitment is between 16 and 25. However, the government claims that in practice no one under 18 is recruited. The minimum age for voluntary enlistment is similarly 16, with a maximum age of 25 on the date of enlistment. In early 1999 the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, obtained agreement from the Burundian government to raise the minimum recruitment age from 16 to 18 in legislation. Subsequently the government of Burundi signed the Optional Protocol on Children and Armed Conflict in 2001, and created a commission to verify the age of recruits. However, lack of birth registration through out the country makes it difficult to implement the minimum recruitment policy, and little has been done to effectively enforce the minimum recruitment age.

The United States State Department reported the continuing use of children for forced labor by the Burundian armed forces in 2001. Frequent targets were civilians living in "regroupment camps" before they were shut down.  Human Rights Watch World Report 2001 states that the armed forces "frequently exacted unpaid labor from residents and forced both adults and children to accompany them as guides or porters, including through areas where there was a high risk of rebel attack... Soldiers supposedly protecting several camps raped women or coerced them into providing sexual services against their will."

The Burundian government has also imprisoned and tortured children – many accused of collaborating with armed opposition groups – for long periods without charge or trial. Some of those arbitrarily accused of being collaborators and detained have been as young as 12, despite the legal minimum age of 13 for detainment. In January 2000 a new code of penal procedure went into effect which guarantees the accused access to legal counsel before trial. However, due to lack of resources the reforms were not widely implemented and have had little impact on minors in detention in the country.

Opposition

Armed opposition groups are known to recruit children as soldiers, including both boys and girls under 15, according to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. Many are recruited in refugee camps abroad, in raids on schools or in displaced persons' camps within Burundi. Vulnerable children, such as street children, are often targeted. At the start of the conflict, between 3,000 and 5,000 children under 18 were sent to the Central African Republic, Rwanda and Tanzania for training.

Opposition groups also reportedly recruit fighters, including children, from five refugee camps in western Tanzania. In one case, teenage Burundian refugees between the ages of 13 and 19 were arrested along with 141 adults for attempting to enter Burundi from Tanzania to attend military training by the CNDD-FDD. Minors were given a reduced prison sentence of three months. In July 2000, FNL fighters were also accused of killing, raping and recruiting children from regroupment camps in Burundi. Throughout 2000 and 2001 opposition forces also continued to use children for forced labor. Both the FNL operating around Bujumbura and the FDD in the provinces of the countryside attacked schools in late 2001 abducting children from the schools and forcing them to carry looted goods to their bases.

Most recently abductions of school children by rebel groups have increased. According to rights groups, just five days after the November 1 installment of the Transitional Government rebels abducted 24 children believed to be between ages 13 and 18 from primary schools in eastern Ruyigi Province near the Tanzanian border. Other reports place the number of abducted children much higher. Three days later, on November 9, approximately 250 schoolboys were abducted by the FDD from their school in Musema, north of Bujumbura. The boys were lined up and marched out of their dorm into the forest before the rebels burned down the school building. According to Amnesty International, the boys were forced to carry military equipment and looted goods on their heads and to assist wounded soldiers before many of them were able to escape several days later.

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers 2001 Global Survey reported that Burundian-armed groups, along with Rwandan Hutu-dominated armed groups, have  allegedly lured Kenyan street boys into their ranks. Sources said that over US$500 was paid for every 150 street boys delivered to the armed groups and their agents. The children were lured with offers of money, well-paid jobs and good living conditions in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. In 2000 an NGO set up as a street children’s feeding program headed by a Burundian Hutu bishop was implicated in the scandal, reportedly dispatching some 700 children to armed groups and funding Hutu-dominated armed groups in both Burundi and Kenya.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL ACTIONS:

The UN Security Council has debated the situation once in 2000 and again in 2001. Its resulting resolutions and statements consistently reiterate support for the Arusha peace process, call for increased security and humanitarian assistance and for increased regional dialogue between Burundi and its neighbors. However, none of the Council’s work addresses the specific protection needs and rights of Burundian children. Resolutions on the DRC that called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from DRC territory, including Burundian forces, also demanded that all armed groups end recruitment, training and use of children in armed forces  (Resolution 1341, 2001) and addressed other child protection concerns (Resolution 1355, 2001).

In May 2001 the Security Council undertook a mission to the Great Lakes region of Africa in the context of the inter-Congolese dialogue, stressing the broader regional implications of the situation there and its support for a "global solution."  In its Mission Report(S/2001/521) the delegates noted that many of the reports it received concerning the situation in Burundi had been very pessimistic. The last page of the report was dedicated to the situation in Burundi and the fact that the "mission was struck by the complexity and intractability of the situation in Burundi and its serious potential for large-scale violence." Children’s issues were not specifically addressed.

In February 2002 President Buyoya addressed the UN Security Council and emphasized the need for continued international pressure to secure a cease-fire. He also called on international donors to fulfill their pledges for US$830 million made at the Geneva donor conference in December 2001.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL

The UN Security Council recognizes the urgent need for a cease-fire in Burundi. It also acknowledges that the conflict in Burundi has broad regional roots and implications and that any discussion of peace in the region should include discussion of the situation in Burundi. Simultaneously, the Security Council has expressed its determination to give the fullest attention to the question of the protection of children in armed conflict (S/Res/1379) and must therefore pay particular attention to the vulnerable and unique situation of Burundian children and adolescents by taking action on the following recommendations:

IMMEDIATE SECURITY COUNCIL ACTION

• Mandate a special UN mission to Burundi to address the severe and urgent situation of children with both state and non-state actors, in keeping with UNSC res. 1379. The terms of reference of the delegation should include; development of emergency strategies for child protection; peace-building strategies that prioritize children; and mechanisms to report and monitor on implementation of such child-focused activities. It should also examine feasibility of days of tranquility, corridors of peace or other agreements to promote humanitarian assistance, disease control and HIV/AIDS awareness.
• Develop and implement an arms embargo, in keeping with UNSC res. 1379 and the recently adopted UN Program of Action on Small Arms. This would include identifying the sources of arms coming into Burundi and taking effective measures to stop them.
• Make a clear international commitment to a cease-fire agreement by making standby arrangements with troop-contributing nations for a UN peace operation and by urging donor nations to pledge investments in health and education infrastructures once a cease-fire agreement is reached.
• Direct UNICEF and UNESCO to develop strategies to ensure that education is delivered despite insecurity, in keeping with specific provisions on emergency education in the Dakar Framework for Action, Education For All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments, including non-formal education programs.
• Advise UN agencies, particularly UNICEF and the Office of the Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict to collect, compile and distribute concrete data on the impact of the conflict on Burundian children and consider these issues in all deliberations on Burundi and the regional dilemma. This includes prioritization of the protection and security of children’s rights, in accordance with resolutions 1261, 1314, and 1379; and consideration of resolutions relating to the security of children, women and civilians.
• Summon the Organization for African Unity, the government of South Africa and other appropriate parties to intensify efforts to mediate cease-fire arrangements for Burundi and call on all actors involved in negotiating and implementing any peace and reconciliation plans to adopt child-and gender-sensitive perspectives and policies.
• Establish a UN human rights monitoring mechanism to document atrocities and to press the government of Burundi’s responsibility to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses, including violations against children and related to sexual and other violence perpetrated against women and children.

URGE ACTION BY BURUNDIAN GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION FORCES

• Call on the Burundian government to protect the right of full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel and goods to all children in need, including Burundian refugee and internally displaced youth and call on armed opposition groups to cooperate with all activities to provide humanitarian assistance.
• Direct the governments of Burundi and Tanzania and other relevant parties to respect refugees’ rights by ensuring that repatriation of Burundian refugees is carried out on a strictly voluntary basis, without physical or psychological pressure, in accordance with international standards. Protection and assistance should be provided for refugees who wish to repatriate, with special attention to the needs and rights of refugee children and adolescents.
• Advise the government of Burundi to move quickly to ratify and implement the Optional Protocol on Children and Armed Conflict and to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the International Convention No. 182 to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
• Command all parties to immediately stop use of landmines and stockpiling small arms and light weapons and urge the government of Burundi to sign the Mine Ban Treaty.
• Push the government to devote more resources and attention to its newly established ministry focusing on the problem of HIV/AIDS, particularly for programs to improve access by youth to information about HIV/AIDS and to pay particular attention to the unique needs of adolescents vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS.
• Guide the Burundian government to rectify inequalities in allocation of educational resources and to work towards providing educational opportunities for all Burundian children and adolescents, regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic status.

SUPPORT PROGRAMS FOR BURUNDIAN CHILDREN

• Urge UN agencies, NGOs and others engaged in Burundi to direct more resources and coordinated attention for the protection and assistance of IDPs in Burundi, the majority of whom are women and children.
• Encourage efforts by the government, NGOs and others to implement early childhood educational programs to deal with problems of discrimination and ethnic divisions and inequalities.
• Support efforts by UNICEF, the government of Burundi and other partners, funded by the government of Belgium, to identify, disarm, demobilize and reintegrate (DDR) former child combatants and encourage other donors to allocate resources to ensure that this program is able to effectively carry out its tasks. Efforts to expand DDR programs should be encouraged to ensure that implementation and outreach touch all areas of the country and include community-based coordination with programs for other children impacted by the war.
• Advocate for local initiatives to bolster the role of civil society in promoting peace, particularly efforts that include children and adolescents and/or draw attention to their needs. Initiatives bolstering the role of women in civil society, as religious leaders and decision-makers in other capacities should also be encouraged.
• Insist on inter-agency coordination for tracing and fostering programs for street and separated children to ensure that protection of these children is an integral part of the broader relief efforts.
• Encourage the inclusion of children and adolescents in the design and implementation of programs for their security and protection.

CALL TO DONOR GOVERNMENTS

• Summon all Member States to increase voluntary financial, technical and logistical support for child-and gender-sensitive training for all UN-mandated work with Burundian civilians, including refugees in Tanzania and elsewhere.
• Summon donor countries to support education proposals for Burundian children that ensure educational opportunities in spite of security problems.

SOURCES

• Amnesty International, News Release, "Burundi: Massacres and Abductions of Children Continue" November 14, 2001.
• BBC, news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1763000/1763618.stm)
• Care, Programs Overview: Health and Population: Reproductive Health for Refugees, http://www.care.org/programs/health/violence_refugee.asp
• CARE: Special Reports: Landmine Info Center: www.care.org/info_center/land?mines/mozpr.asp
• Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Global Report 2001
• Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Newsletter, March 2002, Issue 3
• ECPAT International, "Report of a Meeting on Networking Against Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children in Eastern Africa," 2000.www.expat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/IRC/online_resource/listfull_record.asp
• Final Declaration, All-Party Burundi Women’s Peace Conference, Arusha 17-20 July 2000, www.unifem.undp.org/unseccouncil/womendecl.html
• Global March Against Child Labour, Panafican New Agency (PANA) Daily Newswire, "Large-Scale Child Trafficking Between Burundi and the West," June 10, 2001
• www.globalmarch.org/child-trafficking/news-articles/largescalechildtraffikcing.html
• Human Rights Watch, An Overview of Stoking the Fires: Military Assistance and Arms Trafficking in Burundi, Cases: China, South Africa, and Belgium
• Human Rights Watch, "To Protect the People: The Government-sponsored ‘self-defense’ program in Burundi," December 2001.
• Human Rights Watch, "Seeking Protection: Addressing Sexual and Domestic Violence in Tanzania’s Refugee Camps," October 2000.
• Human Rights Watch, News Release, "Burundi Children Abducted for Military," November 13, 2001.
• Human Rights Watch, World Report 2002.
• International Alert, Tony Jackson, "Equal Access to education a Peace Imperative for Burundi, June 2000
• International Crisis Group, Get Moving Now to Prevent Genocide in Burundi," 2001.
• International Medical Corps http://www.imc-la.org/programs/burundi.html
• International Women’s Rights Action Watch, "Country Report: Burundi", July 3, 2000.
• IRIN:
  • 12/24/01, "Burundi: government concerned over rural HIV rise"
  • 1/15/02, "Burundi-Rwanda-Tanzania: Meeting held of voluntary repatriation of refugees"
  • 1/16/01 Burundi: Security Council Calls for a Cease-fire
  • 1/17/02 "Burundi: Fighting displaces 30,000 in the west"
  • 1/18/02, "Burundi-Tanzania: Repatriation fo refugees from Tanzania"
  • 1/24/02, "Burundi:Talks between Rebels an Government Postponed"
  • 1/31/02, "Tanazania: 24 Burundian Refugees killed"
  • 2/5/02 "DRC-Burundi: Goma rebels expel Burundi nationals"
  • 2/6/02 "Burundi: Buyoya asks Security Council to help end violence"
  • 2/7/02, "Burundi" Amnesty Calls on Government to end rights abuses"
  • 2/8/02, "Burundi: Council calls on Rebels to Join Peace Process"
  • 2/8/02, "Burundi: food security improved, drought remains risk" 
  • 2/28/02, "Burundi: UNICEF launches child-soldier project"
  • 3/1/02, " Burundi :Widespread human rights violations persist"
  • 3/1/02 "Burundi – Tanzania, Repatriation of refugees in Tanzania premature"
  • 3/5/02 "Burundi: UNICEF begins distribution of 100,000 mosquito nets"
  • 3/5/02 "Burundi - Tanzania: Refugees in Tanzania Urged to go Home"
  • 3/11/02 "Burundi-Tanzania: Refugees in Tanzania signing up to go home"
  • 3/11/02 "Burundi: Rebel group ready to enter dialogue"
• Landmine Monitor 2001
• Ligue Iteka Annual Report for 2001, "Peace Agreement without a Cease Fire and Massive Human Rights Violations," www.ligue-iteka.bi
• Musema Journal, 12/21/01 "In Burundi Schools, War is a Deadly Nonelective")
• Norwegian Refugee Council, www.db.idpproject.org
• Refugees International, Education for Girls in Burundian and Congolese Refugee Camps, October 2001.
• Refugees International, Protection and Support of Women’s Rights Defenders Lacking in Tanzanian Refugee Camps, August 2001.
• Reliefweb, CRC begins consideration of report on Burundi 9/20/00
• Save the Children-UK: Emergency Update, Burundi August 2001, www.savethechildren.org.uk/emer_updates/burundi1.html
• Small Arms Survey, 2001
• UNAIDS/WHO Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections: 2000 Update
• UNESCO, Table 1: Population and GNP, Table 2: Literacy, Culture and Communication, Table  4: Primary Education, duration, population and enrolment ratios www.unesco.org/education/information/wer/WEBtables/ind2web.xls
• UNFPA, "Proposed Projects and Programmes" DP/FPA/BDI4, 16 November 1998
• UNFPA-Burundi, "Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health in Burundi," (consultant report), August 2001
• UNICEF: " A Humanitarian Appeal for Children and Women, January-December 2000, Burundi" www.uncief.org/emerg/CAPburundi.htm
• UNICEF, The Situation of Children and Women in Burundi, 2001
• UNICEF State of the World’s Children, 2001
• UNICEF, Statistics-Africa: Burundi, www.unicef.org/statis/country_1Page28.html
• UNHCR Weekly Press Briefing 15 jan 2002
• UNHCR, Learning for a Future: Refugee Education in Developing Countries, 2001.
• UNHCR, Global Report 2000:Achievements and Impact, Geneva, Switzerland
• UNOCHA, Update on the Humanitarian Situation, November 2001, December 2001, January 2002 www.geocities.com/ochaburundi/data/hsu011130.doc
• UN WIRE, "Burundi: UNICEF pushes Government to Address Child Soldiers Issue," December 21, 2001 www.unfoundation.org/unwire/tuil/display_stories.asp?objid=22761
• US Committee for Refugees, World Survey 2001
• Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Conflict and Displacement in Burundi," October 2000.

The Watchlist works within the framework of the provisions adopted in Security Council Resolutions 1261, 1314, and 1379, the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols, and other internationally adopted human rights and humanitarian standards.

Information is collected through an extensive network of organizations that work with children around the world. Analysis is provided by a multi-disciplinary team of people with expertise and/or experience in the particular situation. General supervision of the project is provided by a Steering Committee of international non-governmental organizations known for their work with children and human rights. The views presented in any report do not represent the views of any one organization in the network or on the steering committee.

For further information about the Watchlist initiative or specific reports, please contact: watchlist@womenscommission.org or go to www.watchlist.org

[1] According to the non-government group, the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium, gender-based violence (GBV) signifies any harm perpetrated on a person against his/her will, the origins of which are based on power relationships determined by socially ascribed roles of males and females. Violence may be physical, sexual, psychological, economic or socio-cultural, and is almost always and across all cultures disparately impacting women and children.