00:00 Brick by brick, villages in northern Burundi construct a public building.
00:04 In 2015, thousands fled the region following a violent crackdown on political demonstrations.
00:10 Burundi descended into chaos.
00:11 400,000 people sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
00:15 Anasiat is a farmer who took shelter in Tanzania for several years.
00:19 She has recently chosen to come back.
00:21 I returned to Burundi after hearing that problems were over.
00:26 And when I got here, I realised that this situation is indeed better.
00:30 Over the past five years, 210,000 people have returned to Burundi.
00:38 Yet many still rely on UN humanitarian aid to survive.
00:41 Clementine is struggling to feed her children.
00:44 She spent several years in a random refugee camp before returning home.
00:50 I was in a refugee camp in Angola.
00:54 I was in Angola and I was told that I was not allowed to return to Burundi.
01:00 I was told that I was not allowed to return to Burundi.
01:02 I was told that I was not allowed to return to Burundi.
01:04 I was told that I was not allowed to return to Burundi.
01:06 I was told that I was not allowed to return to Burundi.
01:08 260,000 Burundian refugees are still scattered across neighbouring countries,
01:12 fearing poverty and a shortage of farmland upon their return.
01:15 The UN supports their repatriation.
01:18 Most of the local economy here is based on agriculture.
01:22 With the population density of the country, there are difficulties
01:25 between the number of people and the land available for agriculture.
01:29 So we support them in this process to reacquire land.
01:32 Many exiled Burundians fear that they could be labelled as political adversaries upon their return.
01:38 In 2023, the UN condemned the suppression of dissenting voices in the country.
01:43 But the government insists that returnees have nothing to worry about.
01:46 The reasons that forced these Burundians to flee are no longer here.
01:51 Some of the people who fled are not well informed about the real situation in the country.
01:56 There are some Burundians abroad who are acting in bad faith,
02:00 and who continue to fuel negative rhetoric to stop the exiled Burundians from returning.
02:06 Burundi has set its sights on repatriating at least 70,000 more refugees in 2023.
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