Nduta, Tanzania : the permanent closure of a training center, yet another sign of forced repatriation

SOS Médias Burundi

Nduta, December 24, 2025 – The permanent closure of a vocational training center located in Malorerwa, in the immediate vicinity of the Nduta refugee camp, is perceived by Burundian refugees as yet another strong sign of the ongoing forced repatriation in Tanzania.

The center, once the envy of refugees, was closed last weekend by Tanzanian authorities, in the presence of representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), a partner NGO responsible for its management. This closure comes in anticipation of the announced closure of the Nduta camp before the end of March.

The center offered vocational training in various trades, including welding, mechanics, sewing, cooking, plumbing, and computer skills. Thousands of young refugees, particularly those who had not had the opportunity to complete secondary school, received training there. Upon completion of their training, graduates were provided with kits containing the necessary equipment to practice their chosen trade.

Beyond its educational role, the center served as a vital link between refugees and host communities. Young Tanzanians from surrounding areas also benefited from this training, fostering coexistence and integration around the Nduta camp.

According to DRC officials and the president of the Nduta camp, the center “no longer has a reason to exist” since “the majority of its beneficiaries will no longer be in Tanzania after March 31,” the announced deadline for the camp’s closure. A justification that the refugees reject, believing it confirms a strategy aimed at accelerating their departure.

On the ground, fear and uncertainty are pushing more and more refugees to accept repatriation. “Many people say they don’t want to wait until the last minute,” confides an observer on the ground. “They don’t want to wait for potential violence, disappearances, or assassinations that could occur at the last minute of the camp’s closure,” he adds.

This dynamic is also observed in the Nyarugusu camp, which hosts both Burundian and Congolese refugees. Registration operations for return are intensifying there, under the coordination of the Tanzanian authorities, the UNHCR, and the Burundian consulate in Kigoma, the region where the majority of Burundian refugees in Tanzania are settled.

These developments follow the 26th meeting of the Tripartite Commission on the Repatriation of Burundian Refugees in Tanzania, held on November 28, 2025. The parties agreed at that meeting to “accelerate the voluntary repatriation process” to a rate of 3,000 returns per week, including 2,000 from Nduta—the last major Burundian camp in Tanzania—and 1,000 from Nyarugusu, a camp long considered uncooperative with repatriation, which many refugees nevertheless describe as “forced.”

According to several sources, this target could be exceeded “given the observed enthusiasm.” This enthusiasm, however, is attributed by the refugees more to fear and pressure than to a genuine desire to return.

Last October, the UNHCR, the Burundian consulate, and Tanzanian authorities toured the Nduta and Nyarugusu camps to announce the findings of pre-screening interviews conducted in May 2025. According to their results, almost all Burundian refugees no longer required international protection.

“More than 97% of Burundian refugees have no valid grounds to retain refugee status and must therefore return, voluntarily or by force,” stated Barbara Bentum Williams Dotse, UNHCR Country Representative.

Officially presented as a tool for assessing individual needs for international protection, these interviews have sparked concern, incomprehension, and accusations of coercion among the refugees.

In late November, Rose Médée Dusenge, in charge of international protection at UNHCR-Burundi, alerted Burundian parliamentarians and the National Independent Human Rights Commission (CNIDH) to the limitations of Burundi’s reception capacity. She emphasized :

“This repatriation period is very short,” with several observers describing the measure as “too abrupt,” given the country’s socio-economic situation and the challenges related to the reintegration of returnees.

Today, almost all of the more than 110,000 Burundian refugees still living in Tanzania—most of whom fled the 2015 political crisis triggered by the controversial third term of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza—are sounding the alarm. They are calling on the UN to stop endorsing what they consider a violation of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, arguing that the principles of voluntary participation, dignity, and safety are no longer being respected.