Burundi is a small landlocked nation of eastern Africa. Between 1993 and 1999, ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi created hundreds of thousands of refugees and left at least 250,000 dead. Although many refugees have returned from neighboring countries, continued ethnic strife has forced others to flee. Burundian troops, seeking to secure their borders, have intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.