Burundi: Hope and fear as Burundi’s exiles come home

Truck after truck rumbles over the border at the dusty frontier town of Mugano, each crammed with Burundian refugees returning from Tanzania. For the 464 people in this latest repatriation convoy, it’s a bitter-sweet homecoming. Joy at leaving the crowded refugee camps in eastern Tanzania is tempered by trepidation over starting anew in their former communities – communities they fled to escape rape and massacre. But many also come home to discover their land has been occupied by former neighbours or the government.The land problem may be the most combustible issue facing the new government headed by former Hutu rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza.