REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC
Secretariat-General of the Government
GOVERNMENT STATEMENT
1. The Government of Burundi has just learned through the different media, including the Swiss newspaper “Liberty” that a group of 21 Burundian drummers participated in the International Folklore Festival (RFI) in Friborg, Switzerland from 12 to 19 August 2018. These Burundian artists would have disappeared in the wild as the Journal indicates.
2. The same newspaper quotes the President of the International Folklore Festival saying that “Since Switzerland has no representation in this African country, the short-term visa allowing members of this folklore group to travel into the Schengen area was issued by Belgium after we had provided them with an invitation for our event”. The manager of this activity adds that: "They told us that they were in danger of death".
3. Following such serious information, the Government of Burundi verified the facts and verified the existence of the alleged group of drummers who had gone to Switzerland for a folkloric exhibition.
4. After verification, it turns out that the Ministry in charge of Culture was not at all informed of the exit of Burundi for this group of drummers, or the existence of this cultural event, while it is this ministry which should be seized in the first place for the exit proceedings.
5. Bujumbura International Airport Services also did not record any group of Drummers, let alone Burundian drums en route to Switzerland during this period. The drums that the so-called Burundian artists used might have been smuggled from Germany through a group of accomplices in their disappearance.
6. In addition, the services of the Secretariat General of the Government, which is the only body authorized to issue official mission orders for any activity involving the exhibition of national colors abroad, have not registered any application file for a mission order in the above perspective and therefore no mission order on the basis of which this kind of visa was to be issued has therefore not been issued.
7. Even weirder, the costumes worn by the fake drummers do not reflect the national colors of Burundi like those worn by our famous artists both abroad and in their country. It is neither more nor less than a cultural fraud operation.
8. The Government of Burundi was astonished by the ease with which the Belgian Embassy issued visas to people who were supposed to represent Burundi without presenting any official document, when we know how securing a Schengen visa is not easy. Indeed the consular services of this embassy are very watchful when Burundian officials apply for this kind of visa, yet with the necessary supporting documents.
9. From the foregoing, the Government of Burundi can only conclude that the Belgian Embassy in Burundi has been manipulated and dealt with smuggling and trafficking networks, some of which have no other objectives than to tarnish the image of Burundi if we take into account the statements of the person in charge of the event in person, citing the artists who claim that they were in danger of death in their country.
The Government of Burundi condemns this act of cheating especially since the fact is not random inasmuch as it is organized on the eve of an important meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva this September, not to mention the elections scheduled for 2020.
10. The Government of Burundi therefore holds the Embassy of Belgium solely responsible for the consequences of the granting of facilities to persons whose acts have no other purpose than to tarnish the image of Burundi, at a time when the international community recognizes the positive evolution of the situation in Burundi both at the security and political levels. There is no doubt that members of the fake drum team are not the first to benefit from such complicity.
11. The Government recalls that the Burundian Drum has been inscribed among the intangible heritage of humanity and that no person or group of persons can arrogate the right of its use, still in an abusive manner without informing Burundi.
Done at Bujumbura, August 24, 2018
Philippe NZOBONARIBA
Secretary-General and Spokesman
of the Gover