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Pact to Repatriate Burundi's Refugees from Tanzania Fuels Fear

Patrick Nduwimana

   VOA's BMJ Murithi and Frederic Nkundikije contributed to this report.

   A deal to begin repatriating almost 200,000 Burundi refugees from
   Tanzania beginning in October has sparked anxiety among the displaced,
   with individuals considering an appeal to the United Nations and at
   least one civil society group weighing a lawsuit over any forced
   return.

   "It is clear that the Tanzanian government, in collaboration with the
   Burundian government, wants to bring us back home by force," Renovat
   Nduwayo, a refugee at Nduta camp in western Tanzania, said of the
   repatriation pact between the two countries.

   Tanzanian Interior Minister Kangi Lugola and his Burundi counterpart,
   Pascal Barandagiye, signed the agreement announced Sunday. As of
   October, it would return Burundi refugees at the rate of 2,000 a week
   from several camps in western Tanzania.

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