Over 5,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania volunteer to return home

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-29 00:32:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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DAR ES SALAAM, July 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 5,000 Burundian refugees staying in camps in western Tanzania have volunteered to return home following a recent appeal by President John Magufuli to them to return home and help build their country, a senior official said on Friday.

Emmanuel Maganga, the Kigoma Regional Commissioner, said: "The Burundian refugees are now volunteering to return home following the presidential appeal."

Maganga said 5,327 Burundian refugees from Nduta, Nyarugusu and Mtendeli refugee camps have volunteered to go home, adding that 4,935 of these were from Nduta, 364 from Nyarugusu and 28 from Mtendeli.

Currently Nduta sheltered 124,914 Burundian refugees, Nyarugusu 75,761 refugees and Mtendeli 49,839 refugees.

Maganga said the voluntary repatriation was continuous but explained that the Kigoma regional authorities were awaiting a tripartite meeting between Tanzania, Burundi and the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to deliberate on the voluntary return of the refugees.

"After that meeting Burundian leaders will be allowed to visit refugee camps in Tanzania and convince the refugees to return home," he said.

On July 20, President Magufuli called on the Burundian refugees now in the country to return home voluntarily and help build their country, asserting that now there was security in the tiny central African country.

Magufuli's remarks were in support of an earlier plea by Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza, who had called on his fellow countrymen to go back home and help rebuild their country because the "war is over."

Magufuli also took a swipe at international humanitarian bodies for trying to convince refugees not to return to their home countries because of continued insecurity, just so they can continue receiving aid from donors.

The President also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs not to grant citizenship to any more Burundian refugees coming into Tanzania.

In 2014, Tanzania announced that it was in the process of granting citizenship to 162,000 Burundian refugees who had fled their country in 1972.

In June this year, the UN refugee agency said Tanzania remained the largest host of Burundian refugees.

Tanzania is currently home to more than 315,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are hosted in three refugee camps of Nyarugusu, Nduta, and Mtendeli, which face severe pressure.

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