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 
 
 
¶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