The extent to which the 1969 organization of African Unity Convention is used concerning the 1951 Geneva Convention in determining the status of refugees in Burundi

Abstract

Burundi is overflowing with refugees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of them are fleeing insecurity in their country of origin. As required by the UNHCR Handbook on International Refugee Protection and the Strengthening of National Asylum Systems, these refugees are entitled to adequate reception conditions that meet their basic needs and provide them with a decent standard of living in terms of health and welfare, pending a final decision on their asylum claim. After the reception, they must file their asylum applications as soon as possible with the Burundian asylum authorities, namely the Consultative Commission for Foreigners and Refugees (CCER) and the Appeal Committee (CR). To determine refugee status, these two asylum bodies base themselves on legal instruments, international, regional and national ones. One wonders then which of these legal instruments is used more in the determination of refugee status in Burundi. The analysis focused on the origin of the asylum seekers, on the legal basis of reference in the motivation of the decision as well as on the link between the place of reception of these asylum seekers and the decision taken. To select these files, we took into account the date of arrival of the asylum seekers (old and new) and their country of origin. We used Word, Excel, and SPSS to process the data.