African leaders failed on Sunday to authorise a proposed peacekeeping force to stem violence in Burundi in the face of vehement opposition from the government in Bujumbura.
Instead,
the African Union is to send envoys for more talks, although previous
negotiations have done nothing to end months of conflict.
The
United Nations has warned that Burundi risks a repeat of the 1993-2006
civil war, with hundreds of people killed since April 2015, when
President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a controversial
third term.
At least 230,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Burundi
has consistently opposed the idea of the AU’s planned 5,000-strong
peacekeeping mission, saying the deployment of troops without its
express permission would be tantamount to an “invasion force”.
The
AU charter’s Article 4(h) gives the pan-African bloc the right to
intervene in a fellow nation state “in respect of grave circumstances,
namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity”.
But
top AU diplomat Ibrahima Fall said Sunday that sending troops without
Burundi’s approval was “unimaginable,” with the bloc deciding to send
envoys to hold talks with the government.
“There is no
will neither to occupy nor to attack,” AU Peace and Security Council
Chief Smail Chergui added, saying that troops could be sent in the
future “if Burundi accepts it”.
LEADERS WARNED
Clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have become increasingly violent.
Clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have become increasingly violent.
“We
want dialogue with the government, and the summit decided to dispatch a
high level delegation,” Chergui told reporters, without giving more
details. Burundian Foreign Minster Alain Aime Nyamitwe told reporters he
was “satisfied” at the decision and said Bujumbura was “open to
cooperating with the international community, particularly the African
Union.”
But he also questioned why AU envoys would want to take the time to travel to Bujumbura as Burundi’s position was already known.
Chad’s
President Idriss Deby, speaking after he took over the post of African
Union chairman on Saturday, warned colleagues against inaction: “Our
organisation acts as it has for the past 20 or 30 years: we meet often,
we talk too much, we always write a lot, but we don’t do enough, and
sometimes nothing all.”
Analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government’s wishes.
AU
leaders spent two days debating the crisis in Burundi — as well as
conflict in South Sudan and Libya — at the 54-member bloc’s summit in
Ethiopia.
“It was never the intention of the African
Union to deploy a mission to Burundi without the consent of Burundian
authorities,” said the AU’s Ibrahima Fall.
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