UN official in plea over refugee movement

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has appealed to the government of Tanzania to continue its tradition of hospitality to refugees by reviewing its new policy restricting the movement of refugees.

"The last chapter in the history of Burundian refugees in Tanzania should not be blemished by stricter measures that have been imposed on refugees living in camps in western Tanzania," Lubbers was quoted on Monday as telling Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete during a meeting in Dar es Salaam.

The agency reported that Lubbers, who is on a four-nation visit to Africa, also appealed to the Tanzanian government to consider reinstating previous practises that allowed refugee movement within a four-kilometre-radius out of the camps so that "together we can be proud of the refugee programme".

Lubbers was speaking to Kikwete about new government measures restricting the movement of at least 480,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees living in 12 camps along Tanzania's western border, the UN agency reported.

Before the restriction, the Tanzanian government had for years allowed refugees to move within a four-kilometre radius of the camps, enabling them to cultivate and engage in other activities to supplement their food and other needs.

The government has now discontinued markets which had facilitated trade between refugees and local communities in some areas, the UNHCR reported.

Regarding the voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees, Lubbers told Kikwete that the UNHCR was ready to expand its voluntary return programme to Burundi, noting that a planning meeting was scheduled to be held mext week in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, to discuss a possible expansion.

The agency quoted Lubbers as speaking to Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye in Bujumbura before travelling to Tanzania.

"I am here to consolidate a positive process, because building peace has come now to such a level that it has become possible for us to advise people, to inform them that it is safe enough to come back," Lubbers said.

He told reporters in Bujumbura that he had spoken to the resident coordinator of the UN team about Burundi's security phases, "which have to be changed in such a way that we can be present at the border and in the field".

"We have prepared ourselves in terms of logistics and in terms of organisation," Lubbers was quoted as saying. "We need last checks on the security and political clearance. I think it is a question of weeks and we will see many Burundians back home."