Burundi: UN agency helps another group of refugees to return home from Tanzania

A group of 500 Burundians has returned home from Tanzania with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is running weekly convoys for some 50,000 refugees who have signed up to be repatriated.

On Thursday, a third convoy facilitated by UNHCR took home some 520 Burundians from camps in western Tanzania, as more refugees signed up for the voluntary return. More than 50,000 people living in camps along Tanzania’s western border with Burundi have registered for the partially assisted return programme, which has so far aided nearly 1,500 refugees since it began on 28 March.

Meanwhile, some of the spontaneous returnees said that they made their own arrangements because they wished to return home immediately and did not want to wait for their turn on the convoys, according to a spokesman for the agency.

Many of those who have registered to return wish to go to southern Burundi provinces such as Ruyigi and Makamba, spokesman Ron Redmond said, “but UNHCR is not aiding returns to these areas because of continuing security concerns.”

Last week, Burundi, Tanzania and UNHCR agreed that for the time being, returns would be facilitated only to Muyinga province in the north.