THE United Nations
Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner for Protection,
Mr Volker Turk, has commended Tanzania for her commitment to refugee
protection and longstanding generosity towards those fleeing conflict
and persecution.
Briefing reporters in Dar es Salaam on
Thursday evening on his four-day official visit to the country, Mr Turk,
pointed it as a strong tradition in refugee protection in the country.
“International community, particularly the UNHCR is deeply grateful for
all what Tanzania has done in refugee protection for decades,” said the
UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection after completing his
visit.
The visit took him to the Nduta Refugee
Camp in Kibondo where he met with refugees and witnessed the voluntary
return process for Burundian refugees. More than 42,000 refugees have so
far returned to Burundi.
Mr Turk noted that the purpose of his
visit was to discuss with the government and partners on refugee
protection, challenges and solutions for more than 340,000 refugees and
asylum seekers in the country.
“It was encouraging forme to see that
there was a close collaboration with the host communities, refugees and
the government on addressing challenges facing the refugees and host
communities,” he observed.
Mr Turk informed that the government of
Tanzania has assured UNHCR that the choice of refugees whether to return
will be respected, saying it was vital for refugees to have a
meaningful choice about whether they wish to return based on the facts
and realities on the ground.
“It is absolute paramount to ensure the
freedom of choice of each and every individual, when it comes to the
decision to return and we were assured by the government that indeed the
exercise of returning to Burundi is taking place on the basis of
voluntariness,” he said.
Mr Turk urged the international community
to ensure adequate funding was provided to address the needs of refugees
and host communities as the exercise of return to Burundi was ongoing.
The Burundi situation remains one of the world’s most underfunded
humanitarian crises.
UNHCR and partners have received only 12
per cent of 391 million US dollars appealed for in 2018. In 2017, only
21 per cent of the funds to meet the needs of Burundian refugees were
received.
In light of this, Mr Turk called upon the
international community to put the spotlight on the forgotten situation
and to address the urgent humanitarian needs.
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