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UN mission condemns massacre of Congolese refugees at camp in Burundi

UN mission condemns massacre of Congolese refugees at camp in Burundi

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The UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) has expressed outrage over Friday night's massacre of some 150 Congolese refugees at a camp in Burundi – an event which prompted the UN Security Council to schedule emergency talks today in New York.

About 100 more people were wounded, most of them seriously, by bullets and grenades during the attack on the Gatumba refugee transit camp, some 16 kilometres northwest of Bujumbura near the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi.

Most of the victims were women, children and babies of the Banyamulenge (ethnic Tutsi) community who were shot dead and burnt in their shelters, according to ONUB. Burundian returnees from the DRC, who were also in the camp, were not attacked.

UN agencies on the ground, along with the humanitarian community, immediately mobilized all available resources to assist the wounded and the survivors, who were transferred to a safer area. This work, undertaken in cooperation with the local authorities, is still underway.

”ONUB strongly condemns the massacre and reminds the perpetrators - which include the rebel FNL of Agathon Rwasa who claimed responsibility for the attack - that they will answer for their acts against humanity,” the mission said in a statement, pledging to do its part to protect civilians.

The mission also called on “the perpetrators of such massacres and indefensible acts of violence, to listen to the voice of reason and cooperate with all sides within the framework of the peace process.”