In February 2000, following growing international condemnation of the regroupment policy, the Burundian government announced it would progressively close the camps in Rural Bujumbura. The closure program was slow to start but took on momentum in early June. In the following days three camps were cleared by the Burundian security forces within a matter of hours, their inhabitants ordered abruptly to return to homes which in many cases have been destroyed or are uninhabitable.