Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bujumbura (Agenzia Fides) - “The Church in Burundi is working intensely, along with national and local authorities and international organizations, to meet the needs of the Burundi refugees returning from Tanzania,” Agenzia Fides was told by Fr. Salvatore Niciteretse, Secretary of the Bishops' Committee for Lay Apostolate in Burundi. “Our main concern is that of reconciling the people,” Fr. Niciteretse says. “There are refugees who have been living in camps in Tanzania since 1972. The reconciliation effort began even before the refugees returned to Burundi. I have myself been to visit the refugee camps in Tanzania twice, to tell our compatriots about what the Catholic Church is doing in their homeland, to promote national reconciliation. In my visits, I have been accompanied by groups of young people from Catholic Action in Burundi who made a great effort to reach out to others their age. I should also express my gratitude to the Church in Tanzania, the missionaries, priests, religious, and laity who have been assisting the Burundi refugees for years. A special relationship has been formed among our ecclesial communities.”
“The Church is very active, materially speaking as well,” the priest continued. “Ministering to thousands of people who are returning to the country is no easy feat. In spite of the efforts made by local authorities and international organizations, in preparing for the refugees' arrival, in many cases the refugees arrived without a home and without even something to eat. The Bishops have launched an appeal to get everyone involved in the effort. In the dioceses, there are food drives being organized, to complement the food being provided by the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), which are being distributed by Caritas of Congo.”
Another problem being faced is the repartition of land. Other families have moved on to the land formerly abandoned by its owners. Now that the previous owners and their descendants are returning to Burundi, there is a chance that disputes arise over the property.
According to a statement sent from the UNHCR to Agenzia Fides, “Since March 2008, UNHCR has helped 53,500 Burundian refugees from the so-called 'old settlements' to repatriate under a joint programme with the Tanzanian Government, which also saw some 162,000 of the 1972 refugees opting to apply for citizenship in their host nation. Tanzania has naturalized 29,000 of the refugees and expects to complete the process of the remaining 133,000 by the end of the year.”
Tanzania has also had refugees from Burundi who arrived in 1993. These people were mainly housed in refugee camps in the provinces of Kigoma and Kagera, in the northwest, that were all closed except for one. In 1972, the refugees from Burundi also fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. With the gradual return to peace in Burundi, over half a million refugees have returned home, among them are over 430,000 people from camps in Tanzania. There are now only 36,000 Burundi refugees left in Tanzania, in the Mtabila Camp, and another 21,500 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 31/10/2009)
