Some 20 soldiers being held by Tanzanian police

Some 20 soldiers from the DRC are still being held by Tanzanian police, AFP reported last week. The soldiers claimed to be deserters from the DRC. “We are still interrogating them, as they have failed to convince us that they are soldiers. They did not arrive here with any weapons or identity cards to prove they were soldiers,” AFP quoted Kigoma regional police commander, Boniface Mgongolwa as saying. He said that UNHCR officials in Kigoma region western Tanzania were reluctant to take them to the camps, saying that they are not supposed to receive soldiers. Mgonglwa said that even wives and children left behind by the soldiers at a village in Kigoma would remain there until completion of investigations, AFP added.

A humanitarian source working in the region told IRIN on Wednesday that most of the 20 “combatants” were of the age group of 20 years, the youngest being 14 years and the eldest 40. They arrived some weeks ago at lakeshore south of Kigoma, and were taken to Kigoma’s Central Police Station. These persons are being handled by the Tanzanian authorities because UNHCR only deals with non-combatant asylum seekers unless proven through screening that is normally conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and UNHCR that the concerned asylum seeker is not a combatant, the source explained.