Burundi refuses to allow U.N. police deployment

The government of Burundi rejected a decision to deploy the U.N. police force on its territory, saying that the move would have undermined the country’s sovereignty. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council agreed to send 288 officers to Burundi to monitor the security and human rights situation in the country, where about 450 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term last year.

Government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba insisted that the country’s security situation was under “perfect” control of Burundi’s own security forces, writes the BBC. Nzobonariba added that the government is open to take up the 200 African Union (A.U.) observers and military experts, who are scheduled to be deployed in the country. Earlier, the A.U. scrapped its plan to send 5,000 peacekeepers to Burundi after a fierce opposition from Nkurunziza.

Violence erupted in Burundi last year after the opposition described Nkurunziza’s third consecutive term in the presidential office as unconstitutional, reports Reuters. The unrest, which brought back the memories of 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, has displaced about a quarter of a million people across Burundi.