[Reissued] 30,000 refugees ready to return from Tanzania

[Reissued, correcting country to read Burundi, not DRC] At least 30,000 Burundi refugees living in camps in western Tanzania have signed up with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), under a voluntary repatriation scheme, to return home to Burundi. An official from UNHCR in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, told IRIN on Monday that, tentatively, the first movement of refugees would begin at the end of March. The refugees are to be transported to one of three transit centres being established in Burundi, where they will be given a three-month food supply and basic domestic products. Most of the refugees were returning to the communes of Makamba, in southern Burundi, and Ruyigi in the eastern part of the country, according to the UN refugee agency. As part of a tripartite accord between UNHCR and the governments of Tanzania and Burundi, the UN agency has agreed to assist those refugees who wish to return to Burundi, while not encouraging them to do so. "We do not think that conditions in Burundi are good enough to return everybody, regardless of whether they want to go or not," UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said last week. "But these refugees really want to return and some have already done so through their own means, defying numerous dangers on the way, including combats and harassment." "We decided to help those going home to make their return a little safer," he added. Last week, a delegation of six refugees travelled from camps in Tanzania to Burundi on an organised inspection visit of their country. They attended a session of the Burundi National Assembly and met representatives from UNHCR Burundi. "Many things have changed for the better since my departure from Burundi, but many of the houses destroyed by the war have not yet been rebuilt and those displaced have yet to return," the agency quoted Laurent Harusha, a member of the delegation, as saying. "The presence of soldiers and young police officers along the roads made me realise that security has yet to be fully restored," Harusha said. "The reconstruction of the houses and the return of those displaced would encourage many of the refugees to return." The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there are over 375,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burundi, including 194,000 children. The office reports that this figure may exclude a possible further 100,000 IDPs, and possibly more, who have been dispersed following the closure of some regroupment camps and who may have been unable to return to their homes. Although large numbers of people have been voluntarily registering for repatriation, the BBC reported on 15 March that observers were saying Tanzania has been showing "signs of tiredness" over sheltering hundreds of thousands of refugees. "This is said to have forced most of the refugees to register for voluntary repatriation instead of being repatriated by force by the Tanzanian government," it added. Radio Burundi reported on Tuesday that "the Tanzanian government seems not ready to waste time. It is determined to give a push to the process of repatriation of Burundians living on its territory". The next tripartite meeting between representatives from UNHCR, and both the Tanzanian and Burundi governments is scheduled for 3 and 4 April in Ngara, Kagera District, in western Tanzania, UNHCR has confirmed. Meanwhile, working meetings to organise the repatriation and travel arrangements are ongoing.