Tanzania Will Not Grant Citizenship to Burundian Refugees

On Tuesday, Tanzanian authorities ruled out the possibility of granting citizenship to Burundian refugees staying in refugee camps in western Tanzania.

Related:
Tanzania: Death Toll From the Marburg Virus Rises to 6

According to the director of the Refugee Services Department in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sudi Mwakibasi, the government was instead mobilizing the Burundian refugees to volunteer to return to their country.

"I urge you to return to Burundi because the country is now peaceful," said Mwakibasi when he responded to appeals by some of the Burundian refugees to be granted citizenship on the ground that they have stayed in Tanzania for very long.

According to Mwakibasi, Tanzania's laws do not grant citizenship because of a long staying in the country and therefore the Burundian refugees did not have the right to it.

Mwakibasi made the remarks in a statement to mark World Refugee Day at Nyarugusu refugee camp in the Kasulu district of Kigoma region.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Tanzania, Mahoua Parums, urged the international community to continue supporting the UN Refugee Agency.

"The UN refugee agency is facing various challenges that make it difficult to provide for the welfare of refugees staying in Tanzania," said Parums.