TANZANIA: Government Grants Citizenship to Burundi Refugees

The Government of Tanzania has granted citizenship to 150
refugees from neighboring country Burundi, a move that was hailed by the UN
refugee agency.

 

According to the Minister of Home affairs Mathias
Chikawe, those granted citizenship are refugees who have stayed in Tanzania
since 1972 and have voluntarily opted to stay in the country in accordance to
the agreement met between Tanzania and Burundi governments.  

 

Tanzania hosted one of the largest refugee populations in
Africa, sheltering hundreds of thousands of Burundians who fled ethnic
violence.

 

Many Burundians returned home after the peace process
began in 2002, but others preferred to start a new life in the country.

 

Meanwhile, fresh pre-election violence has erupted in the country prompting
thousands of people to flee into neighboring countries of Tanzania, Rwanda and
Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

According to UNHCR, in the past two weeks more than 8,000
Burundians have left the country.  As
tensions continue to rise between government and opposition supporters, the
fear is that many more people will become refugees.