Give refugees the choice – UN

Hundreds of thousands of refugees in Tanzania, mostly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, should be given a choice as to whether they want to return home or not, says the United Nations.

This is according to Volker Turk, the assistant high commissioner for protection with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, who this week completed a four-day visit to Tanzania, which is hosting more than 340 000 refugees and asylum seekers.

Turk said that there should be no pressure on the refugees and that Tanzania had assured his agency that any decision to return home would be up to the refugees themselves.

He met with the Tanzanian authorities and partners to discuss protection challenges and solutions for the refugees and asylum seekers who have found shelter in the country having fled conflict and persecution in their homelands.