Tanzania, Burundi End Border Security Meeting

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (PANA) - Tanzania's defence and national service minister, Maokokla Majogo, said that the country was no longer willing to host other Burundians.
Consequently, Burundians should find solutions to their problems, he said in Bujumbura at the end of the second ministerial meeting on security along the common border.

Tanzania has so far been the haven of asylum for thousands of Burundian refugees.

But the Burundian minister of national defence, Col. Cyrille Ndayirukiye, replied that one can choose their friends but not neighbours.

"One cannot choose their neighbours," he stated while presenting the historical similarities and affinities between Burundi and Tanzania as assets which should help them "patch up the torn clothes."

Both countries should, Ndayirukiye added, do everything to prevent political activities in Burundian refugee camps in Tanzania.

In this regard, the meeting was a decisive step in the consolidation of security at the common border between the two countries, he said.

The ministers identified the main causes of insecurity at their common border, blaming persistent crisis in Burundi and the operation of criminal elements in refugee camps.

Both sides decided to reinforce measures already taken to ensure security at the common border, support the efforts of the Tanzanian government and reinforce existing control mechanisms, according to a communique issued at the end of their meeting at the week end.

They also committed themselves to exchange criminals based on the extradition agreements between Burundi and Tanzania.

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