Burundian Refugees Forced To Flee Tanzania

Tanzania has been home to hundreds of thousands of refugees over decades and offered citizenship to tens of thousands since 1972. Recently, Tanzania has begun coercively expelling refugees, and 163,000 Burundians have left fearing arrest or deportation. This comes following the October 11th comment by President John Magufuli that Burundian refugees should “go home”. Bill Frelick, Human Rights Watch’s refugee rights director, says “Tanzania must reverse course before it ends up unlawfully coercing thousands more to leave.”

Representing the government, Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola denies refugees are being expelled. This is contrary to the accounts of 20 interviewed Burundians who left Tanzania in August to Burundi and Uganda. One man said: “I returned to Burundi because the Tanzanian authorities said those staying would be forced back… The police became increasingly violent and insecurity was the main reason I decided to return. Imbonerakure members targeted him “They arrested me, tied my arms behind my back and said, ‘you said you fled [Burundi] because of the Imbonerakure, but we are still here.'” He said his wife paid a bribe for his release and he fled to Uganda.

Another 40-year-old woman added: “I decided to leave the camp when the authorities said they would start sending people back on October 1 and that they didn’t want any more refugees in Tanzania…”. A refugee who left Mtendeli camp in October also remarked: “Tanzanian authorities intimidated people to make them sign up for repatriation. A 25-year-old woman recounted: “I left because of what happened in Mtabila. I didn’t want to be forced back while there is insecurity in Burundi.”
One refugee who was repatriated to Burundi in August 2018 said: “I didn’t want to leave but they put us in an untenable situation… [The Sungu Sungu] forbade us from listening to the radio and beat us if they found us out after 7 p.m. They worked with the Tanzania police, which collaborates with the Burundian police.” Also, a 35-year-old carpenter said: “Something changed after August 2019. Assistance for building houses or education programs were suspended.”

Tanzania is bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 African Refugee Convention to prohibit refoulement, the return of refugees in any manner whatsoever to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened. UNHCR, Burundi, and Tanzania had an agreement in September 2017- October 2019 to conduct interviews for voluntary repatriation. 78,380 Burundians-about 725 a week – left Tanzania. However, a December law requested all refugees return to their country of origin.
An estimated 3,300 people were registered but not given “active status,” leaving them vulnerable to government intimidation and coerced return to Burundi. Human Rights Watch research indicates that as of October 31, about 151,000 registered refugees were living in Tanzania’s camps together with 12,000 registered asylum seekers who were waiting for the Tanzanian authorities to decide on their asylum applications.

Adding voices with Human Rights Watch should analyze cases respecting international provisions. Tanzanian authorities banned 10 UNHCR staff involved in managing the refugee registration database from the camp. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Union should send a team to visit the refugee camps and urge Tanzania not to directly or indirectly forcibly return asylum seekers or refugees. “The African Union should publicly press the Tanzanian authorities to stop trying to bully refugees and the UN into submission”, Frelick said.