La Francophonie lifts sanctions, why Burundi can’t celebrate yet?
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol III, Issue #144 | Wednesday, November 4, 2020
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This Wednesday, November 4, 2020, the Permanent Council of La Francophonie has approved a resolution definitively lifting the sanctions taken against Burundi since 2015, during its 112th session, this was confirmed by Communiqué released by the Burundi Embassy in France
The International Organisation of la Francophonie will resume cooperation with Burundi after suspending programs in 2016, citing a political crisis.
On April 8, 2016, The International Organization of la Francophonie decided to partially suspend its multilateral cooperation with Burundi, due to "the lack of progress" in the political dialogue. The members of the Permanent Council headed by the Canadian Michaëlle Jean, deplored the deterioration of the security situation and the absence, of progress in the establishment of a truly inclusive political dialogue.
As BBC noted, at the time Burundi did not officially react to the announcement, but the head of presidential communications, Willy Nyamitwe, posted a tweet denouncing a "comedy" of "very bad taste" from La Francophonie.
"As if Francophonie were a god and Burundi should bow down to this denial of its sovereignty," he added in a second tweet.
In November 2017, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF), Mr. Jacques Chagnon, led an APF delegation to Burundi to respond to the joint invitation of the Presidents of the Senate and of the National Assembly from Burundi, Mr. Révérien Ndikuriyo and Mr. Pascal Nyabenda. They hoped that an APF mission could come and report on the real country's political and security situation.
The members of the delegation had numerous exchanges with the speakers met and questioned them more specifically on the subjects of concern to the parliamentarians of the APF, in particular the political and security situation of the country, violence, enforced disappearances, and attacks on human rights, the process of national reconciliation and the end of the crisis, the fate refugees, the role of the parliamentary opposition as well as the country's economic situation.
The members of the delegation in their report said that they were concerned about the country's precarious economic situation. They also noted that the international sanctions imposed on the Burundian government have had perverse effects, causing the vulnerable populations to suffer more than the government authorities.
They recommended maintaining a continued observation on Burundi, and the lifting of the suspension of institutional cooperation.
The members of the APF delegation were of the opinion that the sanctions taken by the various international organizations against Burundi are sensitive to the efforts made by Burundi to support economic development and prevent certain forms of violence, particularly gender-based.
The bottom line
Burundian Leaders and diplomats have denounced on several occasions how the sanctions against Burundi since 2015 were politically motivated. RegionWeek Analysts note a change of dynamic and realize how the international community is pivoting to a more diplomatic approach to Burundi.
Burundi regime still has a long way to go to convince the international community that the 2015 crisis is about the past.
Getting Burundi off the UN security council agenda will be certainly a good start, but a great challenge will be on how to send strong signals on human rights situation improvements. With small wins and initiatives like La Francophonie sanctions Lift, refugee repatriation, Rwanda rapprochement attempts, Burundi can’t celebrate yet, but more opportunity to redeem its image are likely to be available in the coming days.
The real question remains: Will Burundian leaders recognize and afford the opportunities ahead?
Wait and see!
Thanks for reading
Fabrice Iranzi, RegionWeek.com
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