KAMPALA, Uganda
Burundian refugees in Uganda have tasked the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Burundi government to assure them of peace and security before repatriating them back home.
The refugees, who were meeting
the UNHCR officials and delegates from Burundi at Nakivale Settlement Camp last
Friday, alleged that their colleagues, who had returned home since December
2022, under voluntary repatriation, faced challenges, including political
persecution and limited access to social services like health and education.
“There is a youth group, the
Imbonerakure, that tortures and abducts people. Some of our colleagues who
returned were abducted and up to now, we don’t know where they are,” Mr Ahmed
Amin Nduwumwami, a refugee, said.
Mr Felician Habomugisa,
another refugee, said those who went back home face livelihood challenges, a situation
that forces some of them to return to the settlement camps.
“In settlement camps, a
refugee’s life is better. We access health and education services, and we
engage in farming and earn money,” she said.
The acting commissioner for
refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Mr Douglas Asiimwe, said
there are more than 40,000 Burundi refugees in Uganda but most of them have
refused to embrace the voluntary repatriation exercise despite the current
peace in their home country.
“We are looking for solutions
to the refugee problem because this should be temporary and we believe the
situation in Burundi is now different and conducive for the refugees to return.
They have concerns but we believe by engaging them with their leaders, they
will accept to return home voluntarily,” he said.
Mr Asiimwe said the Ugandan
government, UNHCR and the Burundian government signed a tripartite voluntary
repatriation agreement in 2013 to have all Burundian refugees return home
starting 2020, but many refugees have declined the offer.
“In the agreement, there is an
element of monitoring returnees at some point. We will visit and see how the
returnees have settled in,” he said.
He noted that despite the
repatriation exercise, a number of Burundian refugees have come back alleging
political persecution and livelihood challenges.
“With these visits, we shall
be able to establish if these allegations are true and we see how to handle
them administratively,” he said.
The Burundi director general
for repatriation and reintegration, Mr Nestor Mimenyimana, refuted the
allegations and welcomed the idea of the UNHCR and government of Uganda
officials visiting the country to assess the situation of repatriated
Burundians.
“There is now peace in Burundi
and the living conditions have greatly improved. We are in total agreement with
this resolution. Let the team come and verify, this will help us in
sensitisation and helping these people return home and be part of nation
building,” he said.
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