Jun 19 2009
Mtabila Closure
The 30 June deadline for the repatriation of Burundians living in the Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania is coming up soon. Sanitation, markets, schools and more are being shut down in the transition of the camp from housing refugees to the Tanzanian army.
Processing of refugees is slow, so it is unclear if the 30 June date will hold fast. The camp is the last of its kind in Tanzania, several others having closed in the last few years. Many of the refugees in Mtabila were from the 1993/1994 group that fled during those years’ violence.
It is reported that some fear returning to Burundi for fear of reprisal killings that would result from supposed support of the opposition groups operating in Tanzania. The country has been declared safe to return to and live in since 2002.
A horrific outbreak of violence in 1972 has resulted in a lot of refugees today that were born outside Burundi and raised in refugee camps. They wonder what they have to return to in a country to which they’ve never been. Potential property disputes are another concern to individuals and families that left Burundi.
UNHCR and other international organizations are offering aid and some help to those being returned. Here are a couple of examples:
http://www.theirc.org/where/african_great_lakes_tanzania_programs.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/echo/12451530803.htm
I haven’t been able to find too much information regarding Burundians applying for Tanzanian citizenship. I’ve read that some have applied and are being considered, and also that most are not being allowed to apply, but are being made to repatriate to Burundi.
Here are another few sites related to the Mtabila closure and life in the camp.
http://web.unfpa.org/focus/tanzania/rape.htm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200905220170.html 
(credit: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/echo/12451530803.htm)
