TANZANIA NATURALIZES FIRST BATCH OF BURUNDIAN REFUGEES, REPORTS UN

After living in Tanzania for over three decades, thousands of Burundian refugees have been granted citizenship by the host Government, in the first large-scale naturalization of its kind in Africa, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

This week, 3,568 out of over 160,000 Burundian refugees were granted citizenship, a decision marking "a major milestone in a programme that will bring to a close one of the world's most protracted refugee situations," Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.

Early last year, some 218,000 Burundians who fled violence in their country in 1972 were given the choice by Tanzanian authorities to either return home or to apply for citizenship.

At the peak of the crisis in Burundi in the 1990s, almost half a million people escaped clashes, sheltering in camps along the Tanzanian border. The peace process in Burundi has paved the way for the return of one of the continent's longest-staying refugee populations, with over 400,000 Burundians having returned from Tanzania since 2004.

UNHCR advocated on behalf of the refugees with both the Burundian and Tanzanian Governments, helping them make their decisions on whether to return or stay.

Ultimately, 162,000 refugees opted to apply for citizenship, with the first batch of applicants naturalized on 4 August. Tanzania has reaffirmed its commitment to wrapping up the process by the end of this year, Mr. Mahecic said.

Meanwhile, 45,000 Burundians who decided to return home have already reached Burundi with assistance from UNHCR, with an additional 9,000 refugees set to return in the coming months.

"UNHCR will continue to support the Tanzanian Government in the transition phases of the integration of the newly naturalized" through such community projects as road rehabilitation, school construction and repair, and improvement of health services, the agency's spokesperson said.

The entire repatriation scheme is funded through UNHCR's $28 million Supplementary Appeal for 2008-2009, launched last February, which is facing an $8 million funding gap.
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UN LAUDS TANZANIA’S DECISION TO GIVE BURUNDIAN REFUGEES MORE TIME TO RETURN HOME

The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed Tanzania's decision to allow more time for some 36,000 Burundian refugees who have been living in the country since the 1990s to make their way back to their homeland.

The Mtabila camp in Kasulu district in north-western Tanzania – the last remaining camp hosting Burundian refugees in the country – was scheduled to close on 30 June and all of its residents were expected to voluntarily repatriate, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

But the Government announced on 20 June that the Burundians will have more time to go back home, and that no refugee will be forcibly returned.

"The refugees will now have the chance to plan their return home during the traditional high season for repatriation, which runs to the end of September," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told reporters in Geneva.

UNHCR has assisted over 485,000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to return home voluntarily since 2002.

In addition to those in the Mtabila camp, who fled to Tanzania to escape the ethnic violence in Burundi in the last 16 years, the country is also hosting the so-called "1972" Burundian refugees in western Tanzania.

The Tanzanian Government decided in 2008 to give the latter group a choice to return home or apply for Tanzanian citizenship. Some 165,000 of them decided to stay and applied for naturalization, while another 55,000 opted to return to Burundi.

UNHCR has assisted some 40,000 of them to return so far and the remaining 15,000 are registered to repatriate before the end of the year.
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UN AGENCY VOICES CONCERN OVER RETURN OF BURUNDIAN REFUGEES BY RWANDA

UN AGENCY VOICES CONCERN OVER RETURN OF BURUNDIAN REFUGEES BY RWANDA
New York, Jun 3 2009 6:00PM
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4a268d5e2.html">UNHCR) today voiced concern about the return of a large group of Burundian refugees to their homeland from Rwanda, noting that repatriation should never be compulsory and may not be the best solution for all.

The returns from Kigeme camp, which took place yesterday, are believed to involve more than 400 people, although the precise number is not known.

"UNHCR recognizes the positive developments in Burundi and the fact that a majority of Burundian refugees no longer have concerns preventing them from going home," the agency stated in a news release.

At the same time, it is "distressed" that contrary to recent agreement, the refugees in Kigeme camp "were deprived of options except to return home immediately.

"Many of those forced to return intended to do so voluntarily but desired more time to ready themselves for the journey. In light of their many years in exile and strong connections to Rwanda, this is in no way surprising," UNHCR stated.

The agency stressed that the repatriation of refugees should never be involuntary and that the use of force and violence to compel return is not acceptable.

Nearly 480,000 Burundian refugees have returned voluntarily from neighbouring countries since the start of organized voluntary repatriation in 2002, according to UNHCR.

In April, Rwanda, Burundi and UNHCR jointly decided to re-launch sensitisation campaigns and inform some 2,000 remaining Burundian refugees at Kigeme camp about assistance available for repatriation.

Since 18 May, more than 1,500 of these 2,000 refugees opted to return voluntarily.
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