DAR ES SALAAM, 13 March (IRIN) -
Mkugwa refugee camp in western Tanzania is to remain open, despite recent
reports that it would be closed by the end of March, the Office of the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday.
"We have been told that the camp
still has its function, and will remain open for refugees," Ivana
Unluova, the UNHCR spokeswoman in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam,
told IRIN.
Humanitarian sources had said on 2 March that the Kibondo district commissioner had told refugees in the camp - a special protection facility for mixed-marriage Congolese, Burundian and Rwandan refugees - that it would be closed by 1 April.
Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs were not immediately available to comment on the matter.
The camp hosts some 2,000 refugees of mixed Hutu-Tutsi marriage.
[ENDS]
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003