Protect Burundian refugees' rights in Tanzania

Mission of US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
11.06.2009

The is asking people to

Dear Friend,

Today, more than 35,000 Burundian refugees in Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania are threatened with being forced to return to Burundi against their will. They fear they will be persecuted upon their return to Burundi.

Please contact Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and other world leaders, including Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi, Antonio Gutteres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees , Yacoub El Hillo, Country Representative, UNHCR Tanzania, and Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, to stop this inhumane and illegal action from happening. It will take less than five minutes of your time.

Tanzania is a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and forced repatriation is a clear violation of both.

The Tanzanian authorities should be ensuring that refugees who are unable to return to Burundi due to fears of persecution are able to retain their refugee status and their basic rights, including their freedom of movement and the right to earn a livelihood in Tanzania while they are refugees.

Yet the Tanzanian Government and UNHCR continue to tell refugees in Mtabila that they must go back to Burundi by June 30, 2009 and that there are no other options. One official suggested that the Government might even force them back at gunpoint.

In addition to these threats, the Tanzanian Government is deliberately creating camp conditions so dire that the choice to repatriate cannot be truly voluntary. The authorities are evicting refugees from their homes and are closing their children’s schools. They have also been told that humanitarian aid will cease on June 30, 2009 and that UNHCR and its implementing partners will hand Mtabila over to the Tanzanian Government.

Please speak up for these vulnerable refugees who have no voice right away.

Take action to prevent this gross violation of refugee rights today.

On behalf of the Burundian refugees that you are helping, I thank you.

Please forward this message to others.

Sincerely, Lavinia Limon
President, USCRI

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.