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Burundian refugees in Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania are being deprived of their basic human rights by the Tanzanian government. Some 37,000 men, women, and children are being denied access to needed medical care, primary education, and attending worship services in the camp. Please to help these refugees and remind Tanzanian officials that caring people like you around the world are watching.

Burundian refugees in Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania are being deprived of their basic human rights by the Tanzanian government. Some 37,000 men, women, and children are being denied access to needed medical care, primary education, and attending worship services in the camp.

Moreover, numerous reports coming from the camp state that Tanzanian officials routinely harass, threaten, and beat refugees who decline to return to Burundi.

The Tanzanian government is using these practices to create intolerable living conditions for these refugees so that they will be coerced to return to Burundi, even though these refugees continue to fear persecution if they return.

In addition, the Tanzanian military detained 79 Congolese asylum seekers, including several women who reportedly were raped just before they fled to Tanzania seeking safety. The military denied these human beings access to food, water, or medical care for over 24 hours, and then forcibly returned them to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Though Tanzania has long provided a safe haven for refugees fleeing war and persecution, these recent actions are alarming. As a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, Tanzania is failing to live up to its legal obligations with respect to refugees and asylum seekers.

Please take action today to help these refugees and remind Tanzanian officials that caring people like you around the world are watching. Please contact Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and ask him to continue his country’s leadership in protecting refugees and act immediately to restore access to medical care, education, and freedom to worship for refugees in Mtabila camp and to stop forcibly returning asylum seekers.

Please take just five minutes to speak out on behalf of these vulnerable human beings. Show them that you won’t let them be forgotten.

Please take action today