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Tanzania, Burundia Support Repatriation of Burundian Refugees
The Tanzanian and Burundian defense ministers Sunday agreed to support and implement Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa's proposal of repatriating the estimated 500,000 Burundian refugees to safe zones inside their home country.
The agreement was reached at the conclusion of two days of high- level security and diplomatic talks aimed at easing border tensions between the two countries here.
The talks were attended by the Tanzanian Minister for Defense and National Service Philemon Sarungi and his Burundian counterpart Cyrille Ndayirukiye.
President Mkapa has suggested last month to a U.N. Security Council mission that visited the Great Lakes region that the Burundian refugees should be repatriated to safe zones inside their home country so as to put an end to Burundi's endless accusations that Tanzania is offering military training and supplying firearms to Burundian rebels in its western refugee camps.
Tanzania has been hosting Burundian refugees for more than thirty years. The latest Burundian refugee flood to Tanzania started in 1993 when ethnic civil wars involving Hutu and Tutsi groups broke out. Some 250,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflicts.
Other senior officials with the ministries of home affairs and foreign affairs from both countries also attended the meeting.
In a joint statement issued at the end of their meeting, the two defense ministers also agreed to be "wary of bad elements whose intention is to poison the good relations between the two countries."
They also pledged to continue ensuring that smooth exchange of information between the defense forces of the two countries.
The two ministers also agreed to continue with the exchange of information on people suspected to be criminals so that they may be apprehended or extradited in accordance with applicable treaties, said the joint communique.
It was reported here earlier that Burundi soldiers had illegally crossed the border into Tanzania and stole money and cattle from villagers in a series of border-violation incidents that have caused the deaths of Tanzanian citizens in the past four months.
According to Tanzanian defense officials, six people have died so far on the Tanzania soil after being attacked by the soldiers from Burundi. Five of them belong to one family, the reports said.
Sarungi told reporters at the end of the meeting that the " brotherly and amicable atmosphere that prevailed throughout the talks" was testimony that the two countries are not hostile against each other.
"We have made it categorically clear that contrary to allegations being perpetuated in the media, there are no hostilities existing between the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Burundi," he said.
However, Sarungi said the common border of the two countries, a stretch of more than 500 kilometers, was too long for either of the country to police, saying it was important for both sides to work together to improve the security situation at the frontier.
On his part, Ndayirukiye said the two sides had worked at removing the suspicion that existed amongst themselves.
"The objective of this meeting was to improve the communications between us and to inform each other of the political and security situation prevailing in our countries in order not to be overtaken by the events taking place in the region, " he said.
"The other aim of the meeting was to fix some problems which arise from time to time along our common border," he added.
The two sides have agreed to meet again in Bujumbura in September. The previous meeting was also held in the Burundian capital in February.
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