Burundi refugees in Kigoma, Tanzania
Administrative hitches could lead to the collapse of plans to send back home all Burundi refugees in Tanzania by the end of this year, Home Affairs ministry sources say.
The sources, stationed at the ministry?s wing overseeing refugees`affairs, intimated to The Guardian in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the repatriation exercise was not running fast enough for all the refugees to have left by the December 31 deadline.
President Jakaya Kikwete has already declared his intention to do whatever is in his power to facilitate the peaceful and voluntary repatriation of the refugees by that date.
?The repatriation process is very slow, contrary to the expectations of leaders of countries in the region. Because of this, I don?t see much hope of peacefully and smoothly moving out all refugees as scheduled,? said the source.
?There are several technical problems making a faster repatriation exercise possible but we are trying hard to address them on a case by case basis,? added the source.
One of the major factors said to contribute to the slow pace of the process is reluctance by some refugees to return home despite the peace and tranquility prevailing there.
Among the others are the slow speed characterising the process of registering the refugees, mainly due to technical problems, ?gaping holes? in crucial data given by some Burundi officials, and refugees? demands for mandatory resettlement in the US.
?Some refugees are just not buying the repatriation idea; they are not ready to return home. They want to continue living in Tanzania, thus unwilling to return,? the source pointed out.
Elaborating, he said: ?There is also the problem of data needed in the registration exercise being processed too slowly, resulting in the number of refugees registered for repatriation remaining small relative to the total number of refugees around.?
He gave the number of refugees registered monthly as ranging between 2,000 and 5,000 monthly, ?which cannot help the countries and institutions concerned realise the desired target as planned?.
Most of the sources contacted for comment said a substantial number of refugees had a special liking for the international resettlement plan, under which many of the refugees accommodated in camps in Tanzania are usually transferred to settlements in the US.
?Some refugees have resettlement abroad as their first preference and that automatically makes the registration exercise for repatriation to Burundi especially difficult for officials in camps,? said one.
According to yet another source, a Burundi cabinet minister recommended in a recent interview with the BBC that measures should be taken to make more and more refugees prefer returning home to resettlement elsewhere.
A joint repatriation initiative implemented by Burundi, Tanzania and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees contains three alternative components.
These are integration for refugees happy to become naturalised citizens of the countries where they are accommodated, resettlement in the US, and repatriation to Burundi.
An estimated 5,000 refugees formerly in camps in Tanzania have so far been transferred to the US, while the identification of refugees for integration is going on.
A well-placed source at the Home Affairs ministry said on authority that there are a number of pending applications by refugees for Tanzania citizenship.
National leaders in the region are agreed on the voluntary repatriation of Burundi refugees, saying the country has regained enough peace for its citizens who had sought sanctuary across the border following years of violence to return home without risking their lives.
``I don`t see why Burundi exiles should remain in Tanzanian camps when peace and tranquility has already been restored in their home country,`` President Kikwete was quoted as telling the media in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, earlier this year.
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