Protests in a Congolese border town forced hundreds of Congolese refugees to remain at the frontier with Burundi, where they fled to escape fighting in the east of their country in June, officials said. The more than 1,000 refugees have been living in a no man's land between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo after Congolese soldiers initially refused them entry to the town of Uvira. Some refugees began crossing on Saturday but did not get beyond the frontier because of the demonstrations. "The refugees are still in the buffer zone but we are still trying to get them back into Congo," deputy Interior Minister Paul Musafiri said. "There is a need to make sure preparations are in place but more importantly the security question needs to be resolved," he said. "There are still demonstrations in town. Though no one seems to have been injured yet." The refugees have been trying for weeks to return to Uvira, where riots erupted in September when thousands of angry residents took to the streets to protest against the return of more than 300 ethnic Tutsis. "There is trouble all over the place. They are not throwing stones at the UN but they attacked the local military commander's vehicle," said a UN spokesman Leocadio Salmeron. "There are people running round chanting against the refugees." --More 2226 Local Time 1926 GMT
