Following the December 2023 accusations by Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye who accused Rwanda of backing RED-Tabara, a Burundian rebel group, Burundi decided to close its borders with Rwanda and expel Rwandans, on January 11.

“All the borders are closed. We don’t need Rwandans here, and even those who were on our territory, we chased them out,” Internal Affairs Minister Martin Niteretse said while meeting security officials in Kayanza Province, near the Rwandan border.

He said Burundi’s government started expelling Rwandan nationals.

Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo issued a statement saying that Burundi’s decision was unfortunate and violates the East African Community’s principles of regional cooperation.

Since August 2023 when Ndayishimiye began deploying Burundian armed forces to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the Congolese army coalition in fighting M23 rebels, relations between Gitega and Kigali soured.

While Rwanda supports efforts by the East African Community in a bid to restore order in eastern DRC through peaceful approaches such as dialogue, Burundi sided with the Congolese government in employing military means to deal with the M23 rebellion.

Ndayishimiye supported Kinshasa’s narrative that Kigali is backing M23 rebels to cover up for President Felix Tshisekedi’s failure to halt hostilities in his country as he promised when he was running for president in 2018.

A January mid-term report by the UN Group of Experts on DRC confirmed that Burundian troops are supporting the Congolese army coalition in committing indiscriminate shelling, kidnappings, and targeted assassinations.

The report’s confirmation of Burundian army’s involvement in the ongoing atrocities in eastern DRC followed the allegations by the M23, of Burundian army joining FDLR and other militia groups in killing the Congolese Tutsi, burning their houses and looting their property.

Burundi’s deployment in eastern DRC went wrong as dozens of Burundian soldiers were killed and others injured in the battle against M23 rebels in North Kivu Province.

Over 150 Burundian troops were sent back to Bujumbura on December 8, 2023, following their protest against orders from Gitega to support the Congolese army coalition in fighting the M23 rebels. They did not understand why Burundian soldiers are dying in a war they do not benefit from.

In attempt to cover his failed force deployment in eastern DRC, Ndayishimiye is behaving like Tshisekedi who accuses Kigali of backing M23 after failing to solve DRC’s internal problems.

Ndayishimiye alleges that Rwanda supported the December 22 rebel attack in western Burundi. The attack was claimed by the RED-Tabara rebel group that first appeared in 2011 and was accused of a string of attacks in Burundi since 2015, from its bases in eastern DRC.

The rebels said they killed 10 security officials but Gitega said 20 people were killed, the majority of them civilians.

Révérien Burikukiye, who distributes food products between Rwanda and Burundi, told media that several Rwandans who use the Ruhwa border crossing were blocked while trying to return home, along with Burundians who had gone to a market in Rwanda.

“We are neighbors; our only desire is to live in harmony with the Rwandans. If the leaders have differences, let them resolve them without making us suffer,” Burikukiye said.

Burundi has previously closed its borders with Rwanda in 2015 during political violence in Burundi that followed the disputed reelection of then-President Pierre Nkurunziza. Gitega accused Rwanda of supporting the protesters and welcoming the perpetrators of a failed coup. The borders reopened in 2022.

Relations between Rwanda and Burundi, initially on the rocks, have been on a mend of sorts.

In July 2021, Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente visited Bujumbura for the Independence Day celebrations - the first time a high profile official from Rwanda travelled to Burundi ever since 2015.

Earlier, Rwanda’s military handed over 19 armed men who had conducted an attack in Burundi and fled to Rwanda.

Kigali has shown its good will to have better relations with Gitega. Unfortunately, good relations between Rwanda and Burundi would anger Tshisekedi. As Ndayishimiye opted to side with Kinshasa in the ongoing conflict in eastern RDC, he is doing everything to satisfy Tshisekedi’s wishes.

Burundi's actions to close its borders with Rwanda goes against the principles of East African Community on regional integration and free movement of people. Harassing the Rwandan community in Burundi is not the right way to address differences between Burundi and Rwanda.