Refugee agency begins 'promoted' repatriation

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has started what it commonly calls a process of 'promoted repatriation,' this time of Burundian refugees from camps in western Tanzania. The agency launches campaigns of 'promoted repatriation' to encourage refugees to go home when security in the countries they originally fled is seen to improve. In Tanzania, the process began on Tuesday and involves teams of refugees being taken on "go and see" visits to see conditions back home in Burundi for themselves. As of 1 June, the agency said, Tanzania was hosting 193,271 Burundian refugees in UNHCR-managed camps. The Tanzanian government estimates that at least 200,000 Burundians are living in old settlements in Rukwa and Tabora regions while another 200,000-300,000 unregistered refugees, mainly of Burundian and Congolese origin, live scattered in rural and urban areas. The head of the UNHCR's Ngara sub-office, Kwame Boafo, said the agency opted to promote repatriation in the hope this would give Burundian refugees a better chance of reintegration at home. Boafo said that prior to the start of this campaign, the governments involved agreed to adhere to international laws governing voluntary repatriation. Forced repatriation of refugees is a violation of international law. The UNHCR is also planning to organise visits for Burundian authorities and returnees to refugee camps, to help inform refugees of progress made in Burundi's peace, security and other conditions of life. However, some refugees remain unhappy with the idea. The chairman of Lukole A camp in Ngara, André Nzohabonimana, said the campaign was premature, as security in Burundi had not yet been totally established. He said some 274 Burundians recently fled their homes in the provinces of Kirundo, Muyinga, Kayanza and Ngozi. "The UNHCR is providing them with relief aid after interviewing them, and finding that they fled because of insecurity," Nzohabonimana said. "They have their relatives, neighbours and friends here in the camps and [they] inform them about everything." Innocent Ndayishimiye, a secondary school teacher in Lukole A, said he was worried about the promoted repatriation as it could be a way to shed off Tanzania's refugee burden. UNHCR officials contacted did not specify how long the promoted repatriation campaign would last, but said they expect to repatriate a large number of refugees. Boafo said those refugees who stay behind after the campaign ends, would be handed over to the Tanzania Government to be questioned by a committee of lawyers to explain why they did not want to return home.