Land Conflicts and the State in Rwanda and Burundi

This paper compares features of land conflicts, particularly those caused by the refugee return, in Rwanda and Burundi. The end of recent wars triggered massive returns of protracted refugees, thus leading to outbreak of land conflicts between returnees and original inhabitants. Although the practice of dividing lands of original inhabitants and giving a part of them for returnees was implemented in both countries, popular reaction has been contrasting. In Rwanda, discontents of the Hutu original inhabitants have been so far controlled. However, the outbreak of land disputes has been so severe in Burundi that neither the national commission in charge nor the courts have succeed in soothing them. On the basis of previous literature and original fieldwork, the paper argues that the difference derives from the nature of state. While Rwandan authoritarian state has been able to control the social discontents, Burundian state is too weak to oppress them. The appearance of people's acceptance in Rwanda does not necessarily mean the resolution of land conflicts, as it is foreseeable that they will flare up whenever the national politics destabilizes