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| - UN rights experts on Tuesday called on the Burundian and Tanzanian governments to respect the rights of people fleeing Burundi, amid reports refugees have faced forced returns, torture and killings. More than 300,000 Burundians fled their country following a political crisis in 2015 when then-president Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a disputed third term, sparking violence that claimed at least 1,200 lives. Nearly half of them took refuge in camps in neighbouring Tanzania. A group of 11 independent experts warned in a statement that Tanzanian police and intelligence services were allegedly carrying out arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of refugees and asylum seekers in cooperation with Burundian intelligence services. "Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers now live in fear of being abducted in the middle of the night by Tanzanian security forces and taken to an unknown location or being forcefully returned to Burundi," they said. In recent years, Tanzania has encouraged the refugees to return to Burundi, arguing the country is safe for them to do so, and rights groups have warned of forcible returns and even torture by Tanzanian security forces. "There is no need to continue living as refugees while your country is now peaceful and waiting for you to support building the nation," Sudi Mwakibasi, a director of refugee services at the Tanzanian home affairs ministry, was quoted as saying by local media during a visit to a refugee camp on Monday. Burundi's current President Evariste Ndayishimiye -- who is accused by UN rights investigators of failing to reign in rights abuses -- has also urged refugees to return from Tanzania. Tanzanian officials have said the camps are a hotbed of insecurity. The UN experts warned that Burundian political opponents were allegedly being tracked among the refugee population in Tanzania. The security situation in the camps in Tanzania appears to be "extremely compromised", warned the experts, who are appointed by the UN but do not speak on behalf of the organisation. They include the UN special rapporteurs on torture and extrajudicial executions, and members of the UN working groups on enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention. They pointed to reports that Burundian intelligence agents had been posing as refugees within the camps to identify individuals who were later arrested by Tanzanian security forces. "The government of Burundi must stop its repression against its citizens, including those seeking international protection in Tanzania," they said. The experts said refugees had confirmed being taken by Tanzanian police and being subjected to enforced disappearance and torture before being illegally sent back to Burundi, or forced to sign a voluntary return form. "We are extremely alarmed by reports that some Burundian refugees have been killed after having been abducted by Tanzanian security forces," the experts said. They cautioned that growing anxiety over safety had driven many refugees who otherwise might not have considered going back to Burundi to return there. The UN group condemned the failure of the Tanzanian government to publish any results since announcing an investigation into refugee disappearances last August. nl-fb/gd
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