Nyarugusu (Tanzania): Tanzanians opposed the kidnapping of Burundian refugees

Fifteen Burundian refugees were nearly kidnapped if it had not been for the forceful intervention of Tanzanians from the village of Makele surrounding the Nyarugusu camp. A police vehicle was also damaged. The refugees applaud the action taken by their neighbors to save “lives in danger”.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Everything happened last Saturday morning at the Makele trading center, a village located approximately 5 kilometers from the Nyarugusu camp. This small market serves as a meeting place between refugees and the host community.

According to sources on site, several Burundian refugees had gone there to make small purchases of vegetables, bananas, corn grains or even small fish called “Ndagala”.

Suddenly, the immigration police burst in. They began to clandestinely arrest refugees, one by one, up to fifteen people. They were put in a vehicle parked at the edge of this trading center.

“At first, everyone seemed unaware of what was happening until one of us shouted for help. Finally, there was a group of Tanzanians who had already prepared to come to our aid,” said one of the Burundians who escaped this roundup.

“A lot of people gathered in less than a minute! Armed with sticks, tree trunks and stones collected from all sides, they intervened,” he said.

The crowd then surrounded the immigration police vehicle and demanded that these Burundian refugees be released.

“The fight did not take long as the police refused,” says another Burundian who was not far from where the incident took place.

Furious, they then threw stones at the pick-up truck.

They damaged it, breaking its windows in particular. The police officers on site did not have weapons. They had to call for reinforcements.

“You want to hurt these vulnerable people who have no defense, we know that the one who is arrested disappears for good, why mistreat our dear customers, they are good neighbors, we maintain good relations, we help each other, leave them in peace, (…)”, systematically said these Tanzanians.

When the police reinforcement arrived, a council with the village chiefs of Makele was held unexpectedly.

The conclusion was satisfactory for the refugees.

“No peaceful person will be arrested at this market considered as a model of integration, a suspect will first be presented to the administrative chiefs before the police intervene, any act that disrupts the cohesion between these two communities is prohibited wherever it comes from including the police and finally those who damaged the police vehicle are not prosecuted as part of easing tensions”, we learn from Tanzanian sources.

Refugees are pleasantly surprised by an act of love that their neighbors showed them.

At the Makele market, it is only Burundians who are often worried while Congolese refugees from the same Nyarugusu camp even trade peacefully there.

This camp hosts more than 110,000 refugees including more than 50,000 Burundians.

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A market inside the Nyarugusu refugee camp in northwestern Tanzania (SOS Médias Burundi)