FORCED TO GO HOME: RWANDAN IMMIGRANTS IN TANZANIA
by Mary Kimani

KIGALI 14 April 2003 (Internews) In early March this year, over 2,300 Rwandans arrived at the Kibungo transit camp, a centre that receives Rwandan refugees returning from Tanzania.

These were not the usual refugees. They were Rwandans living within the local community near the border and had never been in the camps. When the governments of Rwanda and Tanzania had signed an agreement to repatriate all Rwandan nationals living in Tanzania as refugees, these people had not considered themselves part of the target group.

Over several weeks in early March, they had been identified and evicted as illegal immigrants.

"Most of them left Rwanda in the 1980's, some of them were born there [Tanzania]," Odette Nyiramirimo, the Secretary of State for Social Affairs in the Ministry of Local Administration told Internews.

When Internews arrived at the camp, the returnees were placing their complaints before Nyiramirimo and James Kimonyo, the governor of Kibungo province. Internews spoke to some of them.

"I was grazing livestock; they came and beat me up. In the confusion, I was taken one way and the livestock in another. They took the money I had in my pocket, and told me, 'Rwandan go home'. They took us to a school compound and when we were many of us they put us in a pick up and brought us to Rwanda," a bewildered young man told Internews.

"I do not know Rwanda, I was born in Tanzania, I do not know what to do," he added.

The President of the Rwandan National Repatriation Commission, Sheik Abdul Karim Harerimana told Internews that the move by the Tanzanian government caught more than the evictees by surprise. "We had not anticipated this. We asked them to stop the process for some time so that we can talk with them and work out the modalities of how it should be done," Harerimana explained.

Internews asked the Tanzanian Ambassador to Rwanda, General Martin Mwakalindile, the rationale behind the evictions. He explained that the forcible return of persons categorized as illegal immigrants to their countries of origin was a national exercise not limited to Rwandans alone.

"We have very many refugees, Rwandans, Burundians, Somalis and others. Like all other countries in this region we also have a lot of illegal immigrants.
Unfortunately, these illegal immigrants are often linked to criminal activities. They take advantage of the presence of genuine refugees. In this case, we had Rwandans who were here illegally, and they had to go home. We are going to continue with this campaign," Mwakalindile stated.

At the camp, the evicted Rwandans had barely enough cover from the rain that pelted them during our visit. Few had umbrellas or warm clothes.

The reception centre where they were gathered consists of two main tents and two large open air shelters used for item distribution. On one side are several make-shift toilets.

Inside the tents women are preparing the midday meals. Most pots have yams mixed with bananas, or maize and beans. The fires have to be lit outside, or in a small area in one tent with earth dug cooking stoves. Due to the congestion, most of the food has to be tended in the rain.

"There is a lot of pain here; there is also a lot of confusion. The people here feel that they have been treated as criminals. The eviction was not handled very well, so we are talking to the Tanzanian government to see how to handle this better next time," Nyiramirimo told Internews.

If the adults are upset, the children seem to be oblivious about it. They play in the mud and rain, while others queue up at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) truck to fetch water. These are the lucky ones.

"I left behind two children. One is six and the other is five. My husband was away. He had gone to see a family who were recently bereaved. I do not know where he is. When they picked me up I had gone to fetch water. I want to go back and see if the children have rejoined their father, I do not know what has happened to them," one woman told the officials.

She is not alone. Several other women in the group have also lost children and some have been separated with their spouses.

Nyiramirimo tries to reassure them. "Please register yourself, we talked to the Tanzanian authorities and those of you who left young children and property will have a period in which you can go and check on your property.
Those of you who want to come back can come back, those of you who would prefer to stay in Tanzania must get the proper papers allowing you to do so," she explained.

Mwakalindile admits that the forced repatriation may not been handled appropriately.

"We are investigating the allegations that some people were maltreated. It is possible that some of the officials treated the people badly for whatever reason; these are going to be punished," he promised.

He however explains that there are cases where the allegations made are untrue. "Some said they had lived in Tanzania for over 20 years, but it was later found that the papers they had were not in order. What we have told them is if they want to stay in Tanzania they have to go through the legal process and get their papers. There were allegations that naturalized Rwandans have been forcefully repatriated, but I think that these are few mistakes; most members of the group were illegal immigrants" he added.

The evicted Rwandans were given plastic sheeting, blankets and cooking pots as well as food to last three months by UNHCR although they do not fall under the organisation's mandate. They will be taken to their original districts where the local officials will resettle them. But that poses a problem. Those born in Tanzania have no idea where to resettle. Moreover in a small country facing population pressure, they fear their return could spark land conflicts.

"I have lived out of Rwanda for so long, I am afraid that if I show up at home and try to ask for land from my brothers we will end up in a conflict, please advise me what to do," one evictee asks Nyiramirimo.

"For now, try to talk to your family members and if that fails then go to the district officials and see if there is communal land that they can assign you. But even if you do not get land you can find a way of earning a living. There is a lot of work to be done in Rwanda," she tells him.

"Some people tell us that we should leave those who are outside to stay there since we are a small country and our resources are meager, but we do not agree with them," Harerimana tells Internews. "Every Rwandan has a right to come back home, Rwanda may be small but there is space for all of us," he asserts.

In a country where most land holdings are less than an acre, those returning will have to jostle just to get space to build a house.

Harerimana says that in any other country the returnees would remain refugees; people who have to ask permission to live there, but in Rwanda, however difficult their situation, they would be home. One has to wonder if that is enough.