There had been UN military observers in the region but they had been redeployed to Kabezi Commune south of the capital a few days before, where there has been heavy fighting and there are 25,000 displaced Burundians.The situation is further complicated by the fact that the refugees were never expected to settle in Gatumba. “The responsibility of the security of people in the country is with the transitional government, and in this regard UNOB works with Burundian government forces, and they were responsible for guarding the camp.”She also said that the UNOB had not considered the refugees to be in danger. Yet both UNCHR and the UNOB say that they have had their hands tied by the lack of available forces.”Although the UNOB mandate states that 6,500 UN troops should be deployed here, we so far have only received around 3,000,” Adric says. In the capital Bujumbura, 30km away from the Gatumba camp, there are signs of prosperity. Resorts are springing up along the beach front, the houses have new corrugated metal roofs, and bars and restaurants are thriving. Yet down the road in a barren camp with basic facilities, 160 people died and no one seems able to explain how this happened, or why.The rebel Hutu militia group Forces for National Liberation has claimed responsibility for the massacre, but controversy is raging over just who was responsible for trying to stop them from carrying out their brutal revenge.The United Nations carries a Chapter Seven mandate in Burundi, which allows it to use force should civilians be threatened by violence.

Burundi is expected to hold its first elections by 31 October. UN officials say that the country has been making a promising transition towards peace after 10 years of conflict between rebels from the Hutu majority and the politically dominant Tutsi minority. The United Nations Office in Burundi (UNOB) spokesperson, Isabelle Adric, said that the allegations had to be taken seriously and that a UN investigation would be immediately launched.Yet these latest claims by the refugees simply highlight the problems facing the UN in this region. Despite the deployment of UN military observers in the area, the new site remains under the protection of 40 Burundian soldiers, and women in the camp insist that these soldiers get drunk each night and rape them.

With United Nations soldiers overstretched in the region, protection of the refugees is in the hands of Burundian forces. Yet the refugees say that they are terrified that the new site is not secure and that another massacre will occur. But it is also the story of the international community, of how much – or how little – protection they owe to refugees and of how well equipped they are to deal with violence when it begins.The survivors of the massacre have been moved down the road to a former school. It is the story of a country attempting to make the transition from war to peace, and of the internal and external tensions that threaten that transition. They lay down in the small bed in the plastic shelter where they had made their makeshift life with other families Then the shooting began.