Issues Today
Violence has reemerged in Burundi. President Nkurunziza has been president and recently began his third term in April of 2015. This reelection is not considered credible because Burundi's constitution says that a president can't be in office for more than 2 terms. He won the election by harassing and intimidating his opposition voters. Rebel generals attempted to launch a coup against the government, but it failed, leading to even more violence. Additionally, Nkurunziza and his police force have been killing and attacking innocent civilians and protesters. Recently, Nkurunziza denied the AU (African Union) permission to send 5,000 peacekeepers into the country to protect the citizens, however the AU has decided to send in the peacekeepers regardless.
The situation in Burundi has the potential to become a genocide if something is not changed. The term genocide has been brought up with the discussion of the current events, because there have been many roundups and mass killings of innocent civilians as well as protesters. CNN states that, “people have been dragged from their homes and killed in the night, bodies have littered the streets of the capitol at dawn, and an army barracks was attacked” (Martinez, Melvin). Not only this but there was recently an attack in December that left 87 people dead by the police on protesters.
The situation in Burundi has the potential to become a genocide if something is not changed. The term genocide has been brought up with the discussion of the current events, because there have been many roundups and mass killings of innocent civilians as well as protesters. CNN states that, “people have been dragged from their homes and killed in the night, bodies have littered the streets of the capitol at dawn, and an army barracks was attacked” (Martinez, Melvin). Not only this but there was recently an attack in December that left 87 people dead by the police on protesters.
Global Community
The current situation in Burundi is hindering its chances of growth and prosperity. The agriculture industry is the main reason that Burundi is still able to feed its people, but if the violence and mass killings continue, then this industry is going to disintegrate, and millions will die. People are already constantly in fear and approximately 200,000 people have already fled to neighboring Rwanda for safety. A decrease in the population results in fewer people to tend to the land and work on the crops. This is a deadly situation for Burundi, considering 95% of its citizens work in the farming industry. Additionally, the land is not being managed appropriately with crop rotation and this limits available land for growing.
The coffee industry is another very important part of Burundi’s income as it makes up the majority of the export earnings. This industry is starting to disappear due to the violence, causing Burundi to lose its place even more within the global community. They will lose their economic ties to outside countries, which is going to make Burundi less important to the rest of the world. This could be a contributing factor to Burundi having one of the lowest GDPs in the world.
The coffee industry is another very important part of Burundi’s income as it makes up the majority of the export earnings. This industry is starting to disappear due to the violence, causing Burundi to lose its place even more within the global community. They will lose their economic ties to outside countries, which is going to make Burundi less important to the rest of the world. This could be a contributing factor to Burundi having one of the lowest GDPs in the world.