Burundi expulsion

SEVEN Mercedarian missionaries were expelled from
Burundi at the end of October, ending 18 years of the order's activities in the African country. The Mercedarian headquarters in Rome announced the expulsions on October 30. They came a year after eight other Mercedarian missionaries were expelled from Burundi.
The October expulsions "thus closed a page of 18 years of presence and service" in Burundi, said the announcement. The order's formal title is the Order of Our Lady of Mercy. Expelled were three priests, a brother and three nuns. All are Spanish except for one nun who is Peruvian, the order said.
The missionaries staffed a health centre for 18,000 refugees and 20,000 Burundians, said the announcement, and the group worked with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.
They were forced to leave when the government refused to renew their residence visas, said a Mercedarian spokesman. "The government does not want foreign priests because their public service works overshadow those of the government."
Refusing to renew visas has been the usual procedure in such -cases. Sine 1979, Burundi has expelled over 100 missionaries.