This measure was implemented on 4 August by the police. PAFE (Migration police) agents prevented all public transportation buses going to or from Rwanda from crossing the border.
Sources from Kanyaru border post revealed that travelers who left Bujumbura before 10 am were able to continue their trip but those who were in the buses of Volcano and Yahoo travel agencies that left Bujumbura at 10 a.m were forced to get off at Kanyaru boarder.
“After customs formalities, we walked across the bridge over the Kanyaru river with our luggage to take another bus on the other side of the border,” said one passenger. “And it was not easy to have it,” he complained.
“Some passengers didn’t succeed to get places and were obliged to await another bus for hours,” said a foreign exchange dealer operating at Kanyaru.
Buses that were going to Kigali had to go back and it was the opposite movement for buses from Rwanda.
The police provide explanations
Police sources indicate that it is an implementation of a measure taken by the Burundian government to prohibit the export of foodstuffs to neighboring countries.
According to the same sources, different bus travel agencies do not implement this measure and carry food from Burundi to Rwanda.
Security reasons were the main cause of this decision. The same police sources say ” armed groups destabilizing Burundi come from Rwanda in the buses that belong to these travel agencies ”
For the time being, buses from Burundi going to Rwanda can cross the border if they don’t carry foodstuffs. However, all buses from Rwanda are not allowed to enter the Burundian territory.
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