IOM works closely with the Government of the Republic of Burundi and other partners, including UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations to implement a well-coordinated response to the country’s core migration-related challenges.   

Projects are ongoing to support the most vulnerable Internally Displaced Persons, returnees and their host communities, and mobile populations thanks to the activities and expertise of IOM Burundi, in the following areas:

  • Migration Health
  • Migrant Protection and Assistance
  • Shelter/NFI/WASH
  • Housing, Land and Property
  • Displacement Monitoring
  • Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Transition and Recovery
  • Immigration and Border Governance
  • Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion
  • Resettlement and Movement Management

 

About Burundi

Burundi has the second-largest population density in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the highest in the world. In the past decades, the country has witnessed a series of civil unrests, which resulted in large migration flows both within the country and across borders. Furthermore, the devastating effects of natural hazards, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine and its effects on the global economic climate further weakened the country’s economy and exacerbated the resource scarcity that Burundi’s population faces. Burundi is the 22nd world’s most vulnerable country to climate change (ND-GAIN, 2022), with 89 per cent of internal displacements caused by natural hazards (IOM, July 2023). Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains and strong winds cause severe damage to households and essential crops in the country, where over 90 per cent of the population rely on subsistence farming.    

According to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) data here, Burundi counts over 73,900 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of which 55 per cent are women and 54 per cent children. Based on its Emergency Event Tracking (EET) dashboards, IOM estimates that from January to November 2023, 203,906 persons were affected by climate-induced disasters, of which 17,717 were newly displaced.  

In addition, since 2017, an estimated 209,092 returnees have been coming back to their communities of origin in Burundi, and 38,420 Burundian refugees are expected to return from neighbouring states in 2024 alone (UNHCR March 2023), thus putting additional strain on communities in areas of return that are already land and resource-scarce and where access to livelihoods opportunities is limited.    

The most urgent needs of these IDPs and returnees in terms of life-saving assistance range from shelter, non-food items (NFI), and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support, to access to housing, land and property (HLP) and protection.  

The country continues to host around 87,600 refugees and asylum seekers (UNHCR, May 2023), mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi has thus become a departure point for refugees seeking to resettle to third countries. It also sees high volumes of cross-border movements of goods and people – primarily traders, workers, and travellers, which have increased after border closures with neighbouring countries were revoked.  

Several generations of post-conflict trauma have resulted in untreated and stigmatized ill mental health, alcohol and substance abuse, as well as Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and domestic violence at the community level. The protection and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs of vulnerable migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in this context are manifold and significant. According to the Humanitarian Response Plan 2023, 40% of people exposed to protection risks in 2023 are affected by GBV, which serves as a root cause of trafficking and exploitation. Internal and cross-border trafficking in persons continues to persist, with an estimated 82 percent of victims being women and girls. They are often subjected to forced domestic labour, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage in neighbouring countries or Gulf states.  

Burundi faced significant challenges in 2020 with the spread of COVID-19, as well as other ongoing health risks including malaria and cholera, and the continued risk of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. These health risks were compounded by the high mobility flows of people and goods, along with limited resources to manage them at various points of entry between Burundi and its neighbouring countries.    

Additionally, 2023 saw a change in mobility patterns in Burundi and the East and Horn of Africa, with more migrants moving abroad intra-regionally and internationally for economic reasons, exposing them to new risks and vulnerabilities and calling for a diversification in assistance related to safe and regular migration pathways at a time of advances on regional and continental integration.