ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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Chapter I – Resettlement and International Protection
which they have sought protection
to a third state that has agreed to
receive them as refugees with a permanent
residence status.
It is important to note that there is no
hierarchy among these three durable
solutions. The three solutions are complementary
in nature and, when applied
together, can form a viable and comprehensive
strategy for resolving a refugee
situation. 29 This means, for example,
while voluntary repatriation is ongoing
for a certain refugee population, specific
individuals or groups of refugees within
this population can simultaneously be
considered for resettlement. Although
UNHCR has a leading role in relation to
each of these durable solutions, their
successful application is also dependent
on the participation of other actors, primarily
states.
Three durable solutions, one country: the
Burundian refugee situation in Tanzania
Tanzania hosts one of the largest refugee
populations in the world. In 2013, the largest
refugee groups were Congolese (from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, comprising
63,330 refugees) and Burundians
(35,343). 30
29 UNHCR, Agenda for Protection, October 2003
30 As of 1 January 2013. UNHCR, Projected Global
Resettlement Needs 2014
With the aim of resolving the Burundian
refugee situation in Tanzania, UNHCR implemented
a strategy that combined voluntary
repatriation, local integration and resettlement
to third countries.
Since 2002, UNHCR has assisted in the voluntary
repatriation and local integration of
417,000 Burundian refugees. 31 Approximately
162,000 Burundians who have lived in
Tanzania since 1972 have become naturalised
citizens, although this option has not been
made available to those who arrived during
and after the 1990s. 32 Since 2005, 12,000
Burundian refugees were resettled to a third
country, with UNHCR planning the resettlement
of a further 2,000 refugees in 2013.
Since the implementation of the strategy,
the Tanzanian Government has reduced the
number of refugee camps from eleven in
early 2007 to two camps in 2012. 33 In August
2012, the Government declared the cessation
of refugee status for the remainder of the
Burundians in Tanzania, officially requiring
that they leave the country by the end of
2012. In October 2012, a Special High Level
Meeting was convened between UNHCR,
other international organisations and the
governments of Burundi and Tanzania to
develop measures to ensure stable conditions
and the avoidance of a humanitarian crisis for
returning Burundian refugees. 34
31 Consolidated inter-agency information note on the
closure of the Mtabila camp in the United Republic
of Tanzania and the return to Burundi of the former
refugees – 15 October 2012 – 31 March 2013
32 ibid.
33 ibid.
34 ibid.