Burundian refugees in Tanzania will not be expelled, President Jakaya Kikwete said on Tuesday, but instead, the Tanzanian government will continue to facilitate the voluntary repatriation programme managed by the United Nations refugee agency.
"We will continue with voluntary repatriation being jointly carried out with UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] and the Burundian government," Kikwete said in a statement issued by State House after meeting Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Kikwete, however, said he was not happy with the pace of repatriation of Burundi refugees from UNHCR camps in the western Tanzanian regions of Kigoma and Kagera. There are more than 200,000 refugees in the camps. He said proper legal procedures would be carried out for Burundians who opted to settle in Tanzania.
Kikwete stressed the need for a meeting of Tanzanian, Burundian and UNHCR officials to expedite the repatriation process.
The Tanzanian leader also told his Burundian counterpart that he hoped the recent signing of a peace deal between the Burundi government and the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), the country's last active rebel group, would lead to lasting peace in the central African country where civil war had raged since 1993.
"This, we hope, will end the problem of having refugees from Burundi," Kikwete told Nkurunziza, who was on three-day official visit to Tanzania.
Nkurunziza told his host that Burundi was in the process of establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in collaboration with the UN.
He asked Tanzania to appoint a representative to the commission because of the important role played in the Burundian peace process. Nkurunziza said the commission was being formed in line with resolutions of the Arusha Peace Accord of 2000.
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"We will continue with voluntary repatriation being jointly carried out with UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] and the Burundian government," Kikwete said in a statement issued by State House after meeting Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Kikwete, however, said he was not happy with the pace of repatriation of Burundi refugees from UNHCR camps in the western Tanzanian regions of Kigoma and Kagera. There are more than 200,000 refugees in the camps. He said proper legal procedures would be carried out for Burundians who opted to settle in Tanzania.
Kikwete stressed the need for a meeting of Tanzanian, Burundian and UNHCR officials to expedite the repatriation process.
The Tanzanian leader also told his Burundian counterpart that he hoped the recent signing of a peace deal between the Burundi government and the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), the country's last active rebel group, would lead to lasting peace in the central African country where civil war had raged since 1993.
"This, we hope, will end the problem of having refugees from Burundi," Kikwete told Nkurunziza, who was on three-day official visit to Tanzania.
Nkurunziza told his host that Burundi was in the process of establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in collaboration with the UN.
He asked Tanzania to appoint a representative to the commission because of the important role played in the Burundian peace process. Nkurunziza said the commission was being formed in line with resolutions of the Arusha Peace Accord of 2000.
jk/jn/mw
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