Burundi has been an IOM Member State since 2007. In 2010, Burundi and IOM signed a cooperation agreement that led to the establishment of an IOM Mission in Burundi.

The mission works closely with the Government of Burundi in implementing the core migration-related challenges in the country. The Organization’s current main activities in Burundi are related to: 

Refugee resettlement and reintegration. IOM works in close collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Burundi to make the refugee resettlement to third countries a reality and as least arduous as possible. While UNHCR is responsible for ensuring the protection of refugees, IOM facilitates their movement to third countries.

Refugee assistance. Since 2002 to date, approximately half a million refugees were registered by UNHCR to return to Burundi from different countries. In addition, the country still has an estimated 100,000 IDPs. While a significant number of refugees have been assisted to return – which now poses an additional challenge to the country – there have been efforts to ensure that the Burundian Diaspora is increasingly engaged in the ongoing socio-economic and political processes in the country, and specifically in the current global and regional dialogue processes on migration and …