European Parliament resolution on the situation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania
Date: 2001-07-05
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Burundi, Tanzania, aid to refugees, human rights, settlement of disputes

14.3.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 65 E/375

Thursday 5 July 2001

21. Human rights: situation of refugees from Burundi in Tanzania

B5-0494/2001

European Parliament resolution on the situation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Great Lakes area in general, and

Burundi in particular,

(cid:129) having regard to the Arusha agreements,

(cid:129) having regard to the Geneva Convention of 1951, in particular Article 33 thereof,

(cid:129) having regard to the Convention against Torture, in particular Article 3 thereof,

A. whereas more than half a million Burundians have been surviving in refugee camps on Tanzanian

territory for more than eight years,

B. whereas in Burundi no solution has been found to the causes of this exodus, the current situation does
not ensure respect for even the most basic human rights, and there are thousands of displaced persons
inside Burundi, for whose situation no solution has yet been found,

C. having regard to the statement made by the President of Tanzania, Mr Mkapa, on 24 May 2001, in
which he said that the international community should relocate all the Burundian refugees residing in
Tanzania to safe places in Burundi,

D. having regard to the last meeting of the Burundian and Tanzanian Defence Ministers held on 24 June
2001, in which, to judge by the joint declaration issued following the meeting, they agreed to start a
process of relocating or repatriating the Burundian refugees currently in Tanzania,

E.

F.

having regard to past experience in 1996 when, after statements to this effect were made by the
Tanzanian Government, thousands of Rwandan refugees were repatriated from Tanzania, which
demonstrated that untimely repatriation carried out in the wrong conditions merely causes more dis-
tress,

having regard to the latest visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud
Lubbers, to the Mtabila refugee camp, when the various NGOs conveyed to him the refugees(cid:146) reser-
vations concerning their possible repatriation, and bearing in mind the problems involved in imple-
menting the Arusha Agreements,

G. whereas many of the refugees who spontaneously returned to Burundi after the peace agreements

were signed are now returning to Tanzania because of the violence and famine,

H. whereas in Burundi alone there are more than 580 000 displaced persons living in refugee camps,

because of the insecure situation in which the civilian population of Burundi is living,

I. whereas international observers have drawn attention to the considerable increase in the number of
military forces in the last few weeks and have noticed that contingents of Burundian guerrillas have
returned to Burundi across the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

J.

having regard to the serious concern expressed by the various NGOs working in the Burundian camps
in Tanzania regarding the international community(cid:146)s silence in response to the possibility of the
Burundians being forcibly repatriated in the near future,

1.
Reminds the Tanzanian Government that to repatriate the refugees at this point would constitute a
an infringement of Article 33 of the Geneva Convention of 1951, to which it is a signatory, and Article 3
of the Convention against Torture;

C 65 E/376

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.3.2002

Thursday 5 July 2001

2.
Supports and welcomes the steps taken by the Tanzanian Government so far with regard to the
Burundian refugees on its territory and recognises that the solution to the problem of refugees and dis-
placed persons depends on the parties involved in the conflict in Burundi and their ability to engage in
dialogue, in the interests of bringing the war to an end;

3.
Agrees with a number of NGOs who consider the Burundian Government to be exaggerating when it
accuses Tanzania of allowing militias to prepare military actions in the refugee camps with a view to
carrying them out in Burundi;

Expresses solidarity with all those who are working to bring peace to Burundi and stability to the

4.
Great Lakes region;

Encourages the mediator in the peace process in Burundi, Mr Nelson Mandela, to continue his efforts
5.
to gather all those involved in the conflict around one table and welcomes the convening of a summit
meeting in Tanzania next month, to which the nineteen signatories to the Arusha Agreements have been
invited;

Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the governments of the Great Lakes region to take
6.
the measures they deem appropriate to assist the Tanzanian Government in its task of helping the Burun-
dian refugees;

Points out that the UNHCR has issued a statement to the effect that at present the Burundian refu-

7.
gees in Tanzania cannot be repatriated owing to the situation still prevailing in Burundi;

8.
Calls on the Commission and the Council to take all diplomatic steps possible vis-(cid:224)-vis the Tanzanian
Government to ensure that the Burundian refugees in Tanzania are not repatriated until the political
situation in Burundi changes;

9.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the heads of gov-
ernments of Tanzania and Burundi, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the signatories to the
Arusha Agreeements.

22. Illegal exploitation of natural resources in Democratic Republic of Congo

B5-0485, 0492, 0502, 0510 and 0517/2001

European Parliament resolution on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic
Republic of Congo

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on the Congo and the Great Lakes region,

(cid:129) having regard to the report of the panel of experts of 12 April 2001 on the illegal exploitation of

natural resources and other forms of wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),

(cid:129) whereas the UN report did not include the exploitation and looting of natural resources and other

forms of wealth by foreign armies in government-controlled territories,

(cid:129) whereas this report concludes that the main reasons for the conflict in the DRC are now access to five
vital mineral resources (cid:129) colombo tantalite (coltan), cobalt, diamonds, copper and gold and the con-
trol of and trade in these minerals,

(cid:129) whereas aeronautical, computer, telecommunications and armaments industries support the mining of

coltan because of its high resistance to high and low temperature,

(cid:129) whereas the UN report considers that these activities go beyond what can be qualified as (cid:145)illegal

exploitation(cid:146) and amount to (cid:145)systematic looting(cid:146),