Photo of the week : over 100 CNL members seeking asylum in Tanzania

More than a hundred Burundians, members of the opposition CNL party, mainly from the Gitega, Ruyigi and Makamba provinces, fled the country at the end of last week. They fled to Tanzania, fearing for their safety.They are settled in the urban center of the Kigoma region waiting to be registered as refugees. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

These new arrivals are divided into 23 households, made up mainly of children and women.

They arrived at the gate of the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania since last Sunday but were only received on the evening of Monday, according to our sources on site.

Their condition was critical.
“Some were hungry. Others had swollen feet, apparently very tired from the journey, their children were crying all the time. We tried to give them food and water,” say refugees from village 7, zone 11 which served as an entry point for asylum seekers.

They say they spent the night on a nearby reserve before coming to the camp around 10 a.m. Sunday.

No authority seemed to be interested in them except on Monday evening when the police and the camp deputy-president turned them away.

According to them, they come from the provinces of Gitega and Ruyigi (center-east) as well as Makamba (south) and are essentially members of the CNL party.

“We are persecuted because we are members of the CNL. Some of our acquaintances are missing, others killed or even arbitrarily arrested. We ask for protection,” they begged.

The camp’s deputy-president told them, we learned, that “in Burundi there is no war or armed conflict or even clashes. And therefore, that they must return to their country otherwise they will be considered as disruptors of security.

“You are not welcome because the reason for insecurity is unfounded,” he told them.

At the injunction of this administration, the police and civil guards ordered these Burundians to turn back. The latter did so, despite themselves.

“We cannot return to Gitega, we will seek refuge in the villages surrounding the camp. There are others behind us who should arrive at any moment,” they said, deploring having traveled for more than two weeks for nothing.

The administration of the Nyarugusu camp, which has more than 50,000 Burundian refugees, has warned any refugee who attempts to accommodate these asylum seekers that they will be severely punished.

However, even though they were not welcomed at the Nyarugusu camp where they first presented themselves, the UNHCR later intervened.

According to our sources on site, these Burundians were subsequently taken to a reception center set up in the urban center of Kigoma province in northwest Tanzania where they are waiting to be identified and registered to receive a refugee status.

Photo : a group of CNL members and their families at Nyarugusu