Nduta (Tanzania) : around fifty refugees in prison for violating the curfew

They were arrested at different times. Some are accused of undermining public authority. They fear being repatriated by force.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The curfew which is causing victims was introduced at the beginning of this month and is strongly criticized by occupants of the Nduta camp. The latter are forced to return to the camp at 7 p.m. local time and confine themselves to their homes.

The police speak of tracking down armed troublemakers who may have infiltrated the said camp, while refugees say they have not yet noticed any worrying signs of insecurity.

Since then, the police have continued to arrest any violator of this curfew, described as inappropriate by those concerned.

In a weekly assessment meeting with zone leaders on Monday, the administration and police indicated that more than fifty people are already in detention.

“More than twenty refugees were taken to the Nyamusivya district prison. Their cases have already been referred to the courts and they are prosecuted for undermining public authority,” they were briefed.

These detainees allegedly refused “to comply and attacked and injured police officers”, we learned. The police insisted that they constituted “a group of well-organized criminals and troublemakers.”

The second group is detained in two police cells at the Nduta camp. It is made up of around thirty people, according to former detainees who were recently released.

“Those who provide convincing explanations with supporting documents are released. This is in particular for medical reasons only, otherwise nothing can explain the fact of opposing the order to return to the camp at 7 p.m. It is a way to prevent the police from doing their job,” notified the president of the camp.

Even though the detainees’ families have been granted permission to visit them, they fear that theirs will be “repatriated by force, a recent punishment inflicted on any refugee who is guilty of any offense, no matter how small.”

Community leaders are imploring clemency from the police and administration for these detainees. They promise to travel through all the villages to awaken the conscience of the refugees and ask them not to exceed “the time imposed on them”.

They nevertheless regret that the UNHCR is helplessly witnessing the violation of what they describe as “the most basic rights in the land of exile”.

The Nduta camp hosts more than 60,000 Burundian refugees.
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The entrance to zone C of the Nduta camp (SOS Médias Burundi)