• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%
  • Also available in French

Tanzania naturalises first group of 1972 Burundian refugees

Briefing Notes, 7 August 2009

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 7 August 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

This week the Tanzanian government granted citizenship to 3568 of some 162,000 Burundians who applied for citizenship after living over three decades as refugees in Tanzanian settlements. The decision marks a major milestone in a programme that will bring to a close one of the world's most protracted refugee situations. It also represents the first time that any country in Africa has naturalised refugees on such a scale.

In early 2008, the Tanzanian government gave a choice to some 218,000 Burundians who had fled violence in their country in 1972 either to return home or to apply for Tanzanian citizenship. Building on this momentum, UNHCR advocated on behalf of the refugees with the governments of Tanzania and Burundi, facilitated the decision making and provided tangible assistance both to those who decided to go and those who opted to stay.

Some 162,000 of the original case load decided to stay and applied for naturalisation.

The final breakthrough came on 4 August when the Tanzanian Minister of Home Affairs granted citizenship to the first group of applicants. Out of 3,570 individuals, only two were rejected. At the same time, the Tanzanian government reaffirmed its commitment to finalise the processing of the remaining population before the end of the year.

In the meantime, 45,000 Burundians who decided to return to Burundi are already home thanks to logistical and other forms of assistance from UNHCR. Another 9,000 will return in the coming months. The entire solutions program is funded by the international community through UNHCR's 2008-2009 Supplementary Appeal, launched in February 2008. Out of a US$28.2 million budget for 2009, US$8 million is still needed to bring the voluntary repatriation, naturalisation and initial integration to conclusion.

UNHCR will continue to support the Tanzanian government in the transition phases of the integration of the newly naturalised. Community projects including rehabilitation of roads, construction and repair of schools, building of water points, improvement of health services and upgrading of local airstrip are already under way in Rukwa and Tabora regions which hosted 1972 Burundian refugees for decades. UNHCR support to local integration is envisaged to continue until the end of 2011.

At the peak of the Burundian crisis in the 90s, nearly half a million people fled violence in their country and found shelter in camps in the Tanzanian border regions of Kigoma and Kagera. Today, the Burundian peace process has paved the way for the return of one of Africa's longest staying refugee populations. Since 2002, more than 400,000 of these refugees returned from Tanzania to Burundi.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related stories by:

UNHCR country pages

Second Dialogue on Protection Challenges, December 2008

An informal discussion among stakeholders about protracted refugee situations.

Local Integration

Integration of refugees in the host community allows recipients to live in dignity and peace.

Integration Initiatives: Supporting Next Steps

An inventory of opportunities and needs in the integration of resettled refugees

Finding a Home on Ancestral Land

Somali Bantu refugees gaining citizenship in Tanzania

Integration Handbook: Refugee Resettlement

A relevant handbook on the reception and integration of resettled refugees.

Tanzania: Hosting Africa's Largest Concentration of Refugees

Tanzania hosts Africa's largest concentration of refugees: almost 1 million people. Ongoing civil and political unrest in neighbouring countries prevents refugees from returning home and at the same time causes new refugees to stream into Tanzania.

During the past few years, the hospitality traditionally shown to new refugees has been strained by growing insecurity (perceived to be caused by the refugees) and pressure on limited natural resources. As a result, government policy towards Burundian and Rwandan refugees has become more closed, with the focus turning towards temporary asylum with a view to sending refugees home as quickly as possible.

UNHCR continues to provide protection to the 500,000 registered refugees living in camps in Tanzania, while also promoting education and health programmes, local integration initiatives, women's empowerment activities, small income generation programmes and environmental awareness and rehabilitation projects.

Tanzania: Hosting Africa's Largest Concentration of Refugees

The Nansen Refugee Award 2005

Burundian humanitarian worker Maggy Barankitse received the 2005 Nansen Refugee Award for her tireless work on behalf of children affected by war, poverty and disease. The Nansen medal was presented at a grand ceremony in Brussels by H.R.H. Princess Mathilde of Belgium and UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Wendy Chamberlin.

Accepting the award, Barankitse said her work was inspired by one single goal: peace. "Accept your fellow man, sit down together, make this world a world of brothers and sisters," she said. "Nothing resists love, that's the message that I want to spread."

Sponsored by UNHCR corporate partner Microsoft, the ceremony and reception at Concert Noble was also attended by Belgium's Minister for Development Co-operation Armand De Decker, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel, renowned Burundian singer Khadja Nin, Congolese refugee and comedian Pie Tshibanda, and French singer and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Julien Clerc. Among others.

The Nansen Refugee Award 2005

A Place to Call Home(Part 2): 1996 - 2003

This gallery highlights the history of UNHCR's efforts to help some of the world's most disenfranchised people to find a place called home, whether through repatriation, resettlement or local integration.

After decades of hospitality after World War II, as the global political climate changed and the number of people cared for by UNHCR swelled from around one million in 1951, to more than 27 million people in the mid-1990s, the welcome mat for refugees was largely withdrawn.

Voluntary repatriation has become both the preferred and only practical solution for today's refugees. In fact, the great majority of them choose to return to their former homes, though for those who cannot do so for various reasons, resettlement in countries like the United States and Australia, and local integration within regions where they first sought asylum, remain important options.

This gallery sees Rwandans returning home after the 1994 genocide; returnees to Kosovo receiving reintegration assistance; Guatemalans obtaining land titles in Mexico; and Afghans flocking home in 2003 after decades in exile.

A Place to Call Home(Part 2): 1996 - 2003

Tanzania: Road to CitizenshipPlay video

Tanzania: Road to Citizenship

In 2007, UNHCR and the government of Tanzania gave him a choice: return home or become Tanzanian. It was an easy decision for Michael Sheltieri Namoya.
Tanzania: Bantu HomecomingPlay video

Tanzania: Bantu Homecoming

For more than four centuries, thousands of ethnic Bantus have lived in Somalia. Now they are making their way to Tanzania, land of their ancestors.
Tanzania: A new futurePlay video

Tanzania: A new future

In a historic decision, Tanzania has granted citizenship to 162,000 Burundian refugees who fled their country in 1972. UNHCR hailed the move and urged other countries to follow suit.