Gashora, Rwanda--Burundian farmer Emmanuel Minani knew it was time to leave when the gang who had terrified him for months told him directly they would torch his house and kill him.
As elections in Burundi approach, thousands of people are fleeing into neighbouring Rwanda, fearing violence from the hands of the ruling party's youth wing, the Imbonerakure.
Minani, 44, crossed into southern Rwanda last week with his wife and four children, because of what he said were threats from the Imbonerakure ahead of elections in May and June.
"The Imbonerakure threatened to kill us because we are not members of the ruling party, and we refused to vote for the president," said Minani, a supporter of the opposition Uprona party, Burundi's main Tutsi political group.
"At night, they (the Imbonerakure) patrol the area and threatened to burn our house," he added, surrounded by a group of terrified Burundians who also fled across the border.
Now the group of exhausted refugees shelter in dilapidated buildings, a former army training camp being turned into a refugee reception centre at Gashora, in Rwanda's southern region.
UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Wednesday warned the "militia of the Imbonerakure" was "operating increasingly aggressively and with total impunity."
AFP
