Refugee agreement signed

Representatives of Burundi, Tanzania and UNHCR last week signed a tripartite agreement on the voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees from Tanzania. According to a joint communique signed by Burundi’s Minister for Resettlement Pascal Nkurunziza, Tanzania’s Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Seif Khatib and the UNHCR representative Marjon Kamara after their meeting in Dar es Salaam, the refugees have the right to return voluntarily and unconditionally, but they would not be repatriated against their will. The three sides noted the “magnitude” of the refugee problem which constituted a burden for the people of Tanzania and Burundi. They were optimistic the agreement would facilitate the process of voluntary repatriation and said it was an important step for the implementation of the Arusha peace accord.

UNHCR noted that Burundian refugees constitute the second largest group of refugees in the world, after Afghans. It said there were some 567,000 refugees living mainly in Tanzania.