Burundi Refugees

The UN News Service report on one of the oldest refugee situations in the world:

Seeking to end one of the most prolonged refugee situations in the world, the United Nations is appealing for $34 million to assist 218,000 Burundians who fled to neighbouring Tanzania to escape violence in their homeland over 35 years ago.

The so-called “1972 Burundians” are among the hundreds of thousands of Burundians who sought refuge in neighbouring countries that year to escape ethnic violence which killed an estimated 200,000 people. They are distinct from Burundian refugees who arrived in Tanzania in the 1990s.

The appeal made by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) covers the voluntary repatriation and reintegration of some 46,000 refugees who wish to return to Burundi. Click here for the rest of the story.

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