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A team of teenagers who competed in a robotics competition in Washington, D.C. have gone missing:
Six teenagers from a Burundi robotics team have been reported missing after an international competition in Washington and two of them were seen entering Canada, police said on Thursday.
The four males and two females were last seen late on Tuesday afternoon when the robotics contest ended at the FIRST Global Challenge, police said. Authorities issued missing persons photographs of the six on Wednesday.
Two of the Burundians - Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, and 16-year-old Don Ingabire - were spotted crossing the United States border into Canada, District of Columbia police spokeswoman Margarita Mikhaylova said.
"We don't have any indication of foul play and we're continuing to investigate this case," she said. Police said they did not have information about how they were spotted or the nature of the border crossing.
DC Police photo on Twitter with contact number. Time notes:
There was no official indication Thursday that any of the teens were trying to avoid returning to their homes in Africa, but a leader in the Burundian community in the U.S. suggested that they may be intending to seek asylum. Immigration attorneys said an asylum application could take years to sort out.
Also at NPR, which gives a reason why the kids may want to seek asylum:
Burundi, which is in central Africa, has faced intense political unrest since 2015. "Hundreds of people have been killed, and many others tortured or forcibly disappeared," according to Human Rights Watch. "The country's once vibrant independent media and nongovernmental organizations have been decimated, and more than 400,000 people have fled the country."
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Nuke on Friday July 21 2017, @10:09AM (5 children)
So it seems Burundi is not the only country where people can "disappear".
FTFA :-
Bullshit. The Burundi authorities would hardly have let these kids go to an international event if they had been planning of killing/torturing/disappearing them.
These kids are adventurers, like almost all "asylum seekers".
(Score: 4, Informative) by kaszz on Friday July 21 2017, @10:15AM
It's more likely per-emptive countermeasures before they get killed or maimed at home. Being in asylum limbo overseas is a lot safer it seems. Foreign citizens that disappear to escape their country of origin is not unheard of.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Friday July 21 2017, @10:40AM (1 child)
It's a country that is on the verge of a civil war. The "authorities" are not the only ones kidnapping and killing people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundian_unrest_(2015%E2%80%93present) [wikipedia.org]
Riiight...
They are just seeking adventure in the Congo!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by deimtee on Friday July 21 2017, @12:49PM
Okay, when the country you are fleeing to is Rwanda the place you are leaving is officially a shit-hole.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Friday July 21 2017, @11:06AM (1 child)
What's bullshit? That Burundi is rife with political arrest? Or that they're disappearing people? Or that that's why the kids have disappeared?
Not them specifically, perhaps. That doesn't mean the kids don't have good reason to be afraid of it happening to them, either now or in the future. Or maybe they can just imagine what be on the horizon for Burundi, and are getting out while they can. Whadyathink, the Burundi government gave them the okay and said, "Sure, go ahead. We weren't planning on killing you guys anyway"? I'm sure that'd make 'em feel safe and happy to return their homeland.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2, Touché) by Nuke on Friday July 21 2017, @12:26PM
That would apply to everyone in Burundi (even, or especially, the torturers). That being the case, shouldn't we bring out the entire population? Make room everybody.