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Tanzania : “Go and See” last round?

The Tanzanian and Burundian governments in collaboration with the UNHCR have organized yet another commission of Burundian refugees who are going to their country to come back and convince their compatriots to return. It is intended to be the “last” before the camps close next December.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Members of the commission are chosen in secret.

According to well-informed sources, the delegation left on September 11. At the Nduta camp, nine refugees were selected to be part of the team.

These are people considered influential or who require a certain notoriety such as teachers, school principals, religious leaders, zone chiefs, etc.

« Our zone chief was part of the delegation, for example, » said a refugee from zone 5.

We learned that the Nyarugusu camp sent five refugees, « considered to be those who are close to or members of the ruling party in Burundi, the CNDD-FDD, some of them being recognized as influential and aggressive Imbonerakure (members of the CNDD-FDD youth league) in the camp. »

This delegation went to the northeastern provinces of Burundi such as Kirundo, Muyinga, Ngozi and Kayanza.

« They are paid so that, when they return, they give tailor-made information, » our sources suggest.

A member of the said mission stated that the delegates each received « a sum of 700,000 BIF as mission expenses ».

« We crisscrossed all these provinces, we went to our home districts and we were received by different administration authorities and representatives of the ruling party », he testified.

The message received is clear, he admits.

« Go and raise awareness among the refugees in your camps, that peace and stability reign throughout the national territory, that no one will be worried once repatriated to Burundi. You will have rendered a good service to the nation – an act of patriotism and you will be rewarded if you manage to convince your compatriots. Above all, insist that the elections find you all here in the country », injunctions given by these Burundian officials, according to one of the members of the delegation. The elections mentioned here are the legislative elections next year.

Refugees’ representatives in a meeting with Burundian and Tanzanian officials to discuss forced repatriation, August 2024 ©️ SOS Médias Burundi

On September 16, five days later, the convoy of the commission called « Go and See » (go observe and come back to testify) returned to the two Burundian refugee camps.

It is the president of the Nduta camp who whispered it on Tuesday to the new UNHCR representatives at the national level visiting the camp. He was part of the delegation on behalf of Tanzania.

« We are waiting for an extraordinary meeting of all the refugees to be organized so that they can come forward to testify about what they saw and convince us for a mass repatriation, » explains a refugee, an intellectual and community leader.

However, a headlong rush allows the refugees to react.

« We already know what they are going to tell us. It is a waste of time, those who have not yet chosen to return will not take this bad measure following these false testimonies, » said a young refugee, a former student of the University of Burundi who took the lead during the demonstrations against the other controversial term of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2015, before going into exile in Tanzania.

In the meantime, cascading awareness campaigns continue by all possible means for a massive return of refugees before the end of this year.

In the last two weeks in Nduta and Nyarugusu, the administration organized sports competitions with the theme : « Return to build Burundi, make the decision before the worst happens in December, today is better than tomorrow ».

Tanzania recalls that the two camps will be completely closed soon to proceed with « the cessation of refugee status » for more than 110,000 Burundians living in these two camps, most of whose occupants fled the 2015 crisis.

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Burundian refugees in a meeting with the director in charge of refugees in Kigoma, April 9, 2024 in Nyarugusu (SOS Médias Burundi)