Persecution coupled with a drought since early March has forced humdreds of Batwa
Pygmies and Tutsis to flee from Burundi to Rwanda. The Batwa were threatened
by ethnic Hutus for allegedly voting against a new constitution, Batwa MP Liberata
Nichayenzi told BBC News. Tutsi refugees said they feared violence would escalate
over the new government structure, which allows power-sharing between Burundi's
Hutu and Tutsi populations. The Hutus constitute 85 percent of the population,
the Tutsis 14 percent, and the Batwa about one percent.
The Batwa are often accused by Hutus of siding with the Tutsis, and are marginalized by both groups. UNHCR News reported that the refugees are currently living near Gikonko in Butare Province in southern Rwanda, but U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees plans to move them to a camp at Nyamure that already hosts 3,000 Burundian refugees.
