Expelled Burundians are illegal immigrants, government says

The 600 Burundians recently expelled from Tanzania are illegal immigrants, not refugees, a senior Tanzanian official said on Wednesday. "We are not kicking out refugees or people who are in the country lawfully," John Chiligati, the Tanzanian home affairs minister, said from Dodoma, the nation's capital. He was responding to a report that the government had expelled the Burundians, many of whom had been living in Tanzania for more than two decades. The 600 returnees arrived at the border of Burundi's northeastern province of Muyinga, its governor, Mohamed Feruzi, said on Sunday. "Some women came without their children; others were expelled with their children, leaving their husbands behind," he said. Some had been in Tanzania since fleeing ethnic killings in Burundi in 1972; others had gone to Burundi to marry Tanzanians, he said. Chiligati confirmed this, adding that the expulsions were part of a campaign by his government to clamp down on illegal immigrants. Many resided in villages and were forced to leave their livestock, he said. However, he said, those expelled could secure property left behind by following legal procedures. "We have no plans to seize their property," he said. People forced to leave spouses and children could, he added, "also arrange to take their families provided it is done lawfully". He said the expulsions followed an effort by the government to give them legal status. "We had asked them to go through the process of naturalisation or get resident permits. For those living in villages the government even reduced the permit fee from 600,000 Tanzanian shillings (about US $461) to 10,000 shillings (about $7.80), yet they refused so we were forced to throw them out," he said. Other illegal immigrants are also being expelled, he said. They included Kenyans, Rwandans, Ugandans, Somalis and Ethiopians, he said. "Hundreds of illegal immigrants have appeared in courts since the beginning of this year. Many were fined, others jailed and later deported," he said. Tanzania has a voluntary repatriation programme for the roughly 500,000 refugees in the country legally recognised by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, most of whom come from Burundi. However, it has no plans to expel them, he said. [BURUNDI: Tanzania expels 600 Burundians] jk/dh/mw/oss