UN Refugee Agency Urges Tanzania To Ensure Burundi Refugees Return Home Voluntarily

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on Friday on the Tanzanian authorities to guarantee that Burundian refugees had a choice on whether to return to their home country or to continue their stay in refugee camps in Tanzania, the UNHCR press service said.

Earlier in the week, local media reported that the Tanzanian authorities had visited refugee camps, claiming that the situation had improved in Burundi and pushing the refugees to return to their home country.

"It is crucial not to pressure Burundian refugees directly or indirectly to influence their decision on return. ... Refugees need to have a meaningful choice and the decision to return must be voluntary, based on facts and ground realities," UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said, as cited by the press release.

The United Nations estimates that Tanzania hosts more than 250,000 Burundi refugees who fled political unrest in 2015.