Burundi: Repatriation of refugees from Tanzania resumes

MAKAMBA, 24 April 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency, (UNHCR) has resumed its repatriation of the "old caseload" of Burundian refugees in Tanzania - those who fled the country following the civil war in 1972 - with the latest returnees being a group of 473 who arrived on 22 April.

UNHCR suspended their repatriation in December 2008: "The agency needed some time to prepare temporary shelters where they can be housed," Bernard Ntwari, the UNHCR assistant public information officer, said.

UNHCR announced the resumption of the repatriation on 2 April: 25,000 refugees are expected to have returned to Burundi by October.

The group that arrived on 22 April entered the country through the Mugina entry point in the southern province of Makamba aboard UNHCR lorries.

Exhausted after a two-day trip, most of the returnees, who had been living in Ulyankulu and Katumba settlements in Tanzania, said they were happy to return home. Most had never been to Burundi since 1972 while many others were born in exile.

"This is the first time I am coming back and everything looks new," Estelle Masunzu, an elderly woman who does not know her exact age, told IRIN.

Besides Masunzu stood Philippe Budogero: "I could have requested Tanzanian citizenship but I opted to come back," he said.

Assistance

At a temporary shelter in Musenyi, Mabanda Commune, where the returnees spent the night before their transfer to their original homes, several UNHCR partners were on hand to provide assistance.

Jean Claude Kameya, head of the southern region for the government project in support of the reintegration of destitute persons, known by its French acronym PARESI, said the returnees were first being given documents attesting their Burundian nationality.

"Those aged 16 and above are given identity cards," he said.

The returnees are also entitled to rations comprising food and non-food items such as plastic bags, blankets, soap and mats.

"For food aid, the returnees are entitled to a six-month package but they go home with a one month supply; they get the rest at their nearest parish," Kameya said.

The UNHCR also provides them with a cash grant of 50,000 Burundian francs [US$41] per person, 20 percent of which they receive in cash on arrival.

According to Swai Fidellis, head of Makamba UNHCR office, some of the returnees have homes in their villages of origin while others would be temporarily hosted by relatives or neighbours. Returnees who cannot trace their homes of origin would be sent to "peace villages" and others would be accommodated in temporary shelters, Fidellis added.

Those who find their land occupied would be hosted in temporary shelters pending the settlement of land disputes.

Kameya said 13 temporary shelters had been built in the provinces of Makamba, Bururi and Rutana and three "peace villages" had been built at Makamba and Rutana, ready for the returnees.

Land

The main challenge facing the returnees is land as many find the land they previously owned occupied by people who, at times, have valid titles.

The government advocates amicable arrangements between returnees and those they find occupying their land whenever possible.

Budogero, who expects to return to his village at Nyanzalac in Makamba Province, said: "If there is someone occupying my land, I am sure he came from somewhere, it is high time he returned to his own land and leaves mine, now that I am back. If the laws oblige me to share my land with another person, then the law had better be changed because they are partial laws."

jb/js