• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Continuation of the facilitated voluntary repatriation movement

ByWebmaster

Jun 7, 2023

BUJUMBURA June 7th (ABP) – Some 2,786 returnees, made up of 1,124 households, returned to their native land from January 1 to June 1, 2023 in 59 convoys. This return movement of Burundians to their native land is part of the voluntary repatriation movement facilitated by the government of Burundi and the UNHCR, as revealed to a check by ABP on Tuesday by the director general in charge of repatriation, Nestor Bimenyimana.

Those returnees came from refugee camps in Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Chad, Mozambique and South Africa. In terms of numbers, refugees living in Tanzania come first with a number of 1,350 returnees. The DRC comes in 2nd position with a return of 1,003 Burundians. The directorate general in charge of repatriation also notes a return of 189 Burundians who returned from Uganda, 111 who returned from Rwanda, 68 who returned from Kenya, 49 from South Africa, 10 from Mozambique and 6 returnees who came from Chad.

The directorate general in charge of repatriation also notes a number of 209,803 Burundians who have already returned to their native land from September 8, 2017 to June 1, 2023. These are made up of 69,980 households and have returned in 645 convoys. They returned from Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, North Sudan, Cameroon, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Zambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Botswana, Congo Brazzaville, etc. The refugees from the camps in Tanzania come first with a return of 146,273, while those from Rwanda are 34,668 in number. Those who returned from the DRC number 14,095. As for the refugees living in Uganda who have already returned home, they number 11,382.

The tripartite agreement, which was signed at the end of the 2019 financial year, provides for the repatriation of at least 2,000 returnees per week at the rate of 1,000 returnees per convoy, twice a week.