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Students camp out in front of US embassy amidst anti-government protests

The students went to the embassy as there was no security for them in the capital city Bujumbura.

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In the wake of anti-government protests happening in Burundi, hundreds of students have spent the night in front of the United States embassy after their university was closed.

BBC reports that the students went to the embassy as there was no security for them in the capital city Bujumbura.

They added that the US embassy was the only place they felt safe and that they feared security forces were pursuing them. The US has however not reacted to their presence.

The government closed the university yesterday (Thursday) citing "insecurity", owing to the fact the students had tried to organise a march into the centre of Bujumbura in order to stop the President Pierre Nkurunziza from officially presenting his nomination papers to the electoral commission.

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It is estimated that there are around 500 students are outside the embassy.

There have been protests in Burundi over President Nkurunziza's decision to stand for a 3rd term re-election in June, even as social media was blocked, radio stations closed and protests were banned following the unrests.

Meanwhile Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader who has been in power since 2005 after the end of the civil war in the country, has warned that anyone who wants to create problems for the governing party would find himself "in trouble".

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