Political settlement needed to solve refugee problem

The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think-tank, has said prospects for a solution to the plight of Burundian refugees in Tanzania are closely linked to a political settlement in Burundi and a resolution of the war in DRC. In its latest report, ICG said there were about 470,000 refugees in Tanzania, representing over seven percent of Burundi's population. The refugee camps were stigmatised for being highly militarised and for harbouring Burundian rebels. ICG said the accusations were partly a result of a well-waged propaganda campaign by the government of President Pierre Buyoya, partly as a result of Tanzania's own duplicitous policies and partly a result of the humanitarian community's "chequered past" in the region, particularly its experience in the Rwandan refugee camps in former Zaire. ICG said the civilian nature of the camps must be maintained, with the Tanzanian authorities and humanitarian workers continuing to have a watchdog role and enforcing prohibitions on military activity. "It is important that the international and donor community recognise that humanitarian action is not a cure-all and will not fill the political and security vacuum," ICG said. "As long as war-afflicted refugees spill into Tanzania with grievances against the Burundian government and military, there will be cause for the mobilisation of a rebellion from the western region."