Burundi is on the brink of genocide.

This summer, Burundian President Nkurunziza assumed an illegal 3rd term. Soon after his election, government-sanctioned ethnic violence and political violence skyrocketed and people began to flee en masse. The violence has since gotten exponentially worse. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has warned that the situation in Burundi is jut like it was in his country before the Rwandan genocide.

Government officials have been killing political dissidents

Government officials and radio shows have been encouraging people to kill ethnic minorities and political dissidents

Burundi has blocked social media, and Burundians are being jailed, tortured and killed for sharing about their situation on social media - the government is trying to make sure that the world does not respond.

I live in Malawi and work with Burundians, so I have been able to get some of their perspectives first-hand. They are terrified. Terrified to speak out, to draw attention to the situation in Burundi because it means putting themselves and  their families at risk. Hell, given how they talk about it, I’m even a bit afraid even as far away as Malawi. People are being murdered for having opinions, for speaking out, and often, simply because of their ethnicity.

THE UN HAS ADMITTED THEY ARE NOT READY TO RESPOND TO THE CRISIS IN BURUNDI, AND HAVE WARNED “MASS ATROCITIES” ARE COMING

BUT YOU. CAN. HELP.

Sign the White House petition imploring President Obama to take diplomatic action to prevent genocide. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, President Obama can’t do what former presidents have done about genocides in Africa (which is to say, nothing). Link here: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-preventing-genocide-burundi-urgent-diplomatic-priority AND REMEMBER TO CONFIRM YOUR SIGNATURE IN YOUR EMAIL!

Make 3 phone calls. Call your representative and senators (http://www.house.gov/representatives/find,http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact). Ask them to support UN Ambassador Samantha Power and make preventing genocide in Burundi an urgent diplomatic priority. The country URGENTLY needs peacekeepers, observers, and mediated negotiations to prevent ethnic killings and broker peace. Not American? Do this at home, wherever home is for you.

TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS. Burundians who try to speak out about this situation are being jailed, tortured, and killed. The media is NOT reporting on this, and those that are are, for the most part, not reporting fully on these atrocities. If the media won’t report on it, we regular folks are Burundi’s best hope of receiving international attention.

Similarly - and I hate that I’m doing this, but it’s important - SHARE THIS POST. SPREAD THE WORD. PLEASE. NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT BURUNDI. SO TALK TO THEM ABOUT BURUNDI.

I’m not sure if you guys are aware of what’s been going on in Manitoba regarding the CFS. But please take a look at this video and share it with everyone you know. This is blatant proof of systemic racism and oppression against immigrants and POC. This innocent Somali-Canadian family came to Canada in hopes of raising their children somewhere safe but the CFS had something else in mind. They took 3 of their 4 children and have placed them in foster care and threatened the parents into silence by telling them that if they spoke out they would never see their children again. 

As a Somali-Canadian born to immigrant parents this could have easily been me. But this story would have disturbed me if it were anyone else’s children that were kidnapped. But it always seems to be POC and immigrants that receive the worst treatment by our government. Please help us by sharing this story and video, we have the power to enact real change. #GiveOurKidsBack

Aisha bint Abu Bakr (Wife of Prophet Muhammad)

Originally found on: zuleikhax