More than 100 Burundian refugees repatriated from Tanzania
Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Some 102 Burundians, made up of 37 families, were welcomed on Thursday at the Tanzanian border where they had taken refuge following the political crisis surrounding the controversial and violent elections of 2015 in Burundi, public radio reported.
The previous wave of arrivals of 185 voluntary returnees dated back to 31 July, from Tanzania, home to the bulk of Burundian refugees in the East African sub-region.
Since January, more than 15,000 Burundians have been repatriated voluntarily, mainly from Tanzania, while an average of 642 refugees have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, according to the local office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to OCHA, there are still some 189,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania, 71,000 in Rwanda, 45,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 41,000 in Uganda, making a total of 346,000 Burundian refugees.
Earlier this year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 35 of its major partners launched a joint humanitarian appeal for Burundian refugees worth US$ 296 million.
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