Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DARESSALAAM650
2006-04-21 04:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Cable title:  

PONTOONS, PIER AND PROMOTED RETURNS: REFUGEE

Tags:  PREF TZ 
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VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDR #0650/01 1110441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 210441Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3795
INFO RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 2367
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 2746
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0180
RUCNDT/USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0017
UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000650 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KAMPALA FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR RSCHIEBEL,
AF/E FOR BYODER, PRM/AFR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF TZ
SUBJECT: PONTOONS, PIER AND PROMOTED RETURNS: REFUGEE
UPDATE FROM TANZANIA


UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000650

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KAMPALA FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR RSCHIEBEL,
AF/E FOR BYODER, PRM/AFR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF TZ
SUBJECT: PONTOONS, PIER AND PROMOTED RETURNS: REFUGEE
UPDATE FROM TANZANIA



1. (U) SUMMARY: On March 31, UNHCR Representative,
Chrysantus Ache, updated donor representatives on
refugee issues in Tanzania. Returns to Burundi have
come to a virtual halt and are more than offset by
new Burundian arrivals at waystations, mostly due to
food insecurity. UNHCR will transition from facilitated
return to Burundi to promoted return in September.
Congolese continue to return but that process is
dependent on the construction of a pier in Kigoma.
Since two months minimum are needed to build the pier,
any delay in securing funding and the use or purchase
of two pontoons may result in interruptions to the
Congolese repatriation. End summary.

Pontoons vital to pier construction, repatriation
-------------- --------------
--------------

2. (U) Ache said the building of a pier at Kigoma was
moving forward and that a funding request is forthcoming.
Officials of the Tanzanian Port Authority (TPA) provided
the design and cost estimate for the pier on March 30.
Construction will be by the TPA and will take
approximately two months. The key to the pier
construction is the availability of two pontoons. Of
the USD 308,000 cost estimate, USD 250,000 is for the
purchase of two pontoons (at USD 125,000 each) which
are necessary for the pier construction. The current
loan of pontoons from the Belgian government was
extended to April 15 and UNHCR has requested a further
extension to May 31. However, the pontoons have been
promised to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
and will become property of the Government of the DRC
upon removal from Kigoma. Therefore, the governments
of Belgium and the DRC are currently discussing the
issue of the pontoons' loan and how long they can be
used in Kigoma. The European Union Humanitarian Aid
Office Representative, Yves Horent, commented that it
seems "unreal" that the DRC refugee repatriation,
which has a budget of USD 62 million, could come to a
halt for want of USD 58,000.


3. (U) Ache pointed out that a pier in Kigoma would
be a boost for economic development of the Great Lakes
region as there is no pier in Kigoma at present.
Conversely, the lack of a pier and the corresponding
halt of facilitated repatriation, combined with
elections in the DRC this summer, could push the
refugees to try to return on their own in small,
unsafe boats.

Waystations crowded
--------------

4. (U) Waystations continue to be overcrowded as
5,694 Burundians arrived at Kibondo District from
March 1 to 28 and another 121 new arrivals were
received in other districts. The Burundian
government plans to launch the return of Burundians
from the waystations to Burundi on April 4.
However, some Burundians at the waystations (UNHCR
estimates the number to be in the hundreds) do need
protection and, as those persons are identified,
UNHCR is moving them to transit centers in refugee
camps. Burundians at waystations commonly move
back and forth across the border, with some arriving
at waystations with bags to carry back into Burundi
the food they receive in Tanzania. Children
commonly attend school in Burundi, then return to
the waystations in Tanzania for the night. Ache
said the UNHCR was impressing upon the Burundian
government that food is to be distributed to those
who need it and the best option is for Burundians
to return to Burundi and receive food there.

Promoted return
--------------

5. (U) At the ninth Tripartite meeting on March 21,
the Government of Burundi (GOB),the Government of
Tanzania (GOT) and UNHCR agreed to transition from
facilitating return to promoting return. The launch
is scheduled for June 20 (World Refugee Day) with
the promotion to start in September 2006. It is
hoped this time frame will allow the four areas of
Burundi that are in Phase IV of the UN plan, and
therefore ineligible for promoted return, to be out
of Phase IV by the time promoted return begins.
The agreement to transition to promoted return includes

the GOB's agreement to provide land to those returning.

Returnee numbers
--------------

6. (U) In March, UNHCR facilitated the voluntary return
of 688 Burundian refugees, the lowest number since
April 2002, and 2,610 Congolese refugees. The food
shortage in Burundi is the main cause of the low
interest in repatriation to Burundi. At month's end,
refugee camps in Tanzania continued to be home to
339,200 refugees: 193,200 Burundians, 141,000 Congolese,
2,700 Somalis and 2,300 of various nationalities.
DELLY