Syntoniser Amani

For many years the civil war in the central African state of Burundi was overshadowed by the genocide in Rwanda and the conflict in Congo, and to an extent still fails to attract the interest of either the media or humanitarian organisations. The roots of the conflict are similar to those in neighbouring Rwanda: inequality between Hutus and Tutsis. After years of violence and instability the situation is also typical of many African countries in that Hutu refugees in Tanzania have formed an armed group, the National Liberation Front (NLF), which has continued fighting in recent years. Fifteen years after the conflict erupted a truce was announced last year. The government, which emerged from the first democratic elections, decided to allow the opposition to return from exile in order to reach a settlement. This documentary about three young former members of the NLF depicts the common context of cross-border conflicts in African states, the disputed role of the UN and the World Bank in the peace process, and the vicious cycle of illegality from which it is very difficult to emerge.