UNHCR shares Amnesty’s concern on forced returns

UNHCR on Thursday said it shared Amnesty International’s concern over the refugee situation in Tanzania, but noted that the incidents of forcible repatriation of Rwandan and Burundian refugees from the Kagera region were “locally initiated”, rather than central government policy. A UNHCR senior protection officer in Dar es Salaam said his agency was particularly concerned about the “push back” of refugees to Burundi prior to the signing of an anticipated Burundi peace accord. “We do not feel that it reflects a general reversal of the asylum policy [in Tanzania].

More likely, it is the result of a local initiative,” the protection officer told IRIN. In a report released this week, Amnesty said the lives, security and dignity of thousands of refugees in the Great Lakes region were “once again under threat” as the standards of refugee protection in Tanzania had dropped dramatically since late 1999. It said over 80 Rwandan and 580 Burundian refugees were known to have been forcibly returned from Tanzania to their countries of origin since February.