EU to suspend direct aid to Burundi

The European Union is expected on Monday to announce the suspension of direct aid to Burundi due to deteriorating human rights and governance issues, a diplomat source told AFP.

“Foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states, meeting in Brussels on Monday, will approve a text outlining the stalemate in talks with Burundi on human rights and announce the upcoming adoption of “appropriate measures” including a suspension of direct aid,” said the diplomat.

According to the United Nation, the country risks sinking into a genocidal war from the increasingly violent clashes between loyalists and the opposition.

The country has been in a turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term which the opposition claimed it was illegal.

The violence has left at least 400 people dead and hundred of thousands fleeing to the neighbouring countries like Rwanda and DR Congo.