EDITORIAL: Burundi must assure returnees of safety, wellbeing
Burundian refugees walking to Nduta refugee camp in Kigoma, northwest Tanzania, on October 7, 2015. Burundi and Tanzania on August 27 agreed to the repatriation of Burundian refugees starting October, but some refugees fear that conditions in Burundi are not conducive for a safe return. PHOTO | OXFAM | AFP
In a meeting of minds that was not completely unexpected, Burundi and Tanzania on August 27 agreed to the repatriation of Burundian refugees starting October. Yet, predictably, the decision set off alarm bells, first within the Burundian refugee community, and rights activists who fear that the agreement could provide cover to forcible removals.
A section of the Burundian refugee community in Tanzania fears that conditions on the ground in Burundi, which they fled amid politically inspired violence in 2015, are not conducive for a safe return, while Bujumbura and Dar think otherwise. The gap in perception between the refugees and the governments is partly attributable to the manner in which the decision to repatriate them was arrived at. It is a top-down decision in which the potential beneficiaries or victims were minimally involved, if at all.
