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Burundi: Janvière Congera - 'Do They Want to Make US Refugees in Our Own Country?'
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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
16 October 2007
Posted to the web 16 October 2007
Bujumbura
Janvière Congera, 30, was repatriated from Tanzania last July after spending four years as a refugee in Kibondo district. With her husband and five children, she chose to settle at Giharo in the southeastern province of Rutana, fearing their original home in Gitega province, in central Burundi, was still unsafe.
"Before we fled to Tanzania, we were living at Gitega; we had a small piece of land but we cannot go back there. I cannot speak for my husband but I think we won't go back. When we left, members of our family had been killed, we have nothing left there.
"When we arrived here, we bought this plot from our neighbour [also a returnee]. It is only enough to erect this hut but nothing else. We have now to work in the farms of our neighbours to earn a living. Sometimes we get 500 francs [50 US cents] with which we buy cassava flour. There are times when nobody needs our labour. Then we go to bed on empty stomachs.
"In Tanzania, we were given food aid, but here we have to look for it ourselves. Not that I regret coming back. You cannot be a refugee all your life.
"We cannot get enough money to buy land but we are now working hard to get money to rent a piece of land for a season or two and grow beans or maize.
"Now, it seems we have to move again from this place. We heard on the radio that we are living on a site where refugees will be accommodated. [The land in the Gakungu zone of Giharo commune has been earmarked by local authorities for a camp for refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.]
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"Nobody has directly informed us about this [the refugee camp].
"Where do they want us to go? Do they want to make us refugees in our own country?"
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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