Resisting Repatriation: Burundian Refugees Struggling to Stay in Tanzania

On 25 May 2011, a Tripartite Commission comprised of the governments of Tanzania and Burundi and the UNHCR met to discuss the future of approximately 38,000 refugees in Mtabila camp in Tanzania. The talks ended with a decision to close the camp on 31 December 2011. The government of Tanzania has announced that they expect a renewed repatriation drive to start imminently and that they are prepared to revoke the refugee status of the group “if need be.”

Although refugees in Mtabila camp have been resisting return for more than two years, weathering numerous “deadlines” for repatriation and the steady withdrawal of services, there is growing fear among refugees that the current deadline of 31 December 2011 is going to lead to forcible repatriation.