The UN refugee agency has expressed concern over the “coercive” repatriation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania with many of them refusing to return to their home country.
As of the end of November 2025, there were over 140,000 Burundian refugees in neighbouring Tanzania, who have fled over years of civil unrest in Burundi, said the agency in a statement seen by APA on Friday.
While thousands continue to be “voluntarily repatriated” 17,000 others may still need international protection in Tanzania, the agency statement said.
“Up to 17,000 say they are unable to return over fears for their safety or danger of political persecution. They include members of the political opposition and former military personnel,” it said.
“There are increasing concerns from refugees on forced returns and coercive measures,” said UNHCR’s Bahia Egeh, who is based in Tanzania. “We also continue to advocate against any coercive measures for the refugees in the camps.”
Adding to these concerns are reports that during the repatriation process in Tanzania, refugee shelters are being “demolished” and some Burundi refugees are being subject to “mistreatment”, UNHCR revealed.
UNHCR’s official position on forced repatriations, known as refoulement,is clear and grounded in international refugee law and refugees and asylum-seekers must not be returned to a place where their lives or freedom would be at risk.
Many refugees in Tanzania have been refugees before, fleeing from the Burundian civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s, returning to Burundi, and then fleeing again in 2015 during a period of political unrest.
There are currently two refugee camps in the North-Western Kigoma region of the East African country, Nduta and Nyarugusu. Egeh said that the conditions in these camps are “challenging for the refugees” amid a reduction in UNHCR funding that has impacted services.
UNHCR assisted voluntary repatriation of around 390,000 refugees from Tanzania to Burundi between 2002 and 2009 while some 162,000 Burundian nationals were granted Tanzanian citizenship in 2014.
MG/as/APA