Government dismisses applications of 931 Rwandan refugees

The Tanzanian government has rejected the applications of 931 Rwandan refugees who asked to stay in the country because they fear that the security situation in their country is not conducive to their return, The Guardian newspaper reported on Friday. The Dar es Salaam daily quoted Ngara District Commissioner Samuel Ndomba as saying that the minister of home affairs, Omar Ramadhani Mapuri, dismissed the applications on the recommendation of the National Eligibility Committee. "The minister had attributed the grounds of denial to the fact that reasons furnished by the refugees didn't convince the government to grant them permission," the newspaper reported. The committee comprised officials from the ministries of home affairs and of foreign affairs. Ndomba said that seven applications, which comprise 30 people, were accepted, thereby permitting them to remain in Tanzania under the care of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Those who have been allowed to remain would be shifted to Mkugwa Camp in Kibondo District, Kigoma Region, the daily reported. The government has been insisting that all Rwandan refugees return to their country since there are no longer genuine reasons for them to remain in Tanzania. UNHCR spokeswoman Ivana Unluova told IRIN on Monday that the agency would transport to Rwanda those whose applications Tanzania rejected. "Meanwhile, we have done our own screening of all cases and those who qualify for refugee status will be resettled to a third country, regardless of whether they have been rejected by the government of Tanzania or not," she said. "We have been assured by the government of Tanzania that those who will be selected for resettlement will be allowed to stay under our care until their departure," she added.