Refugee agency appeals for USD 34 million for 218,000 Burundans

By KUNA

Geneva : The UN refugee agency is seeking USD 34 million to realize comprehensive solutions over two-years for some 218,000 Burundian refugees who fled to Tanzania in 1972. Soon after arrival, each refugee household was given land and by 1979 the settlements were economically self-sufficient. All international assistance to them stopped in 1985. This group of refugees is distinct from Burundians who arrived in subsequent influxes in the 1990s and are accommodated in three camps in northwest Tanzania.


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In the three principal components, the appeal foresees the voluntary repatriation and reintegration of some 46,000 refugees who wish to return to Burundi, local integration of the remaining 172,000 in line with Tanzanian citizenship legislation and direct support to districts and villages where they will be finally integrating.

The activities are scheduled to start in late February. UNHCR will organize, in collaboration with Tanzanian authorities, the voluntary return by road and rail using both existing facilities for the ongoing Burundian repatriation and additional structures that will have to be set up. The Burundian government, together with UNHCR, will facilitate reintegration of the returnees.

According to the refugee agency in addition to 218,000 Burundian refugees from 1972, Tanzania hosts 113,000 Burundian refugees and 96,000 refugees from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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