An IOM charter flight transporting a first group of 43 Burundian refugees accepted for resettlement in the United States has left the western Tanzanian town of Kibondo for Nairobi, where the group will spend the next three days in an IOM-run transit centre before embarking on the last leg of their journey to the US.

The refugees, who fled ethnic strife in Burundi some 30 years ago, are part of a much larger group of some 8,500 Burundian refugees who are likely to be resettled to the United States over the next two years.

They were initially referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the US Government which accepted them for resettlement on the basis that repatriation and sustainable reintegration to Burundi was not a viable option.

The refugees and their descendants were subsequently interviewed for resettlement by US immigration officers in the Tanzanian camps of Kasulu, Kibondo and Ngara.

In Tanzania, IOM is responsible for conducting extensive medical health assessments, for providing cultural orientation classes to help the refugees settle in the US, and for coordinating the transfer of the refugees from the recently constructed IOM Processing Centre in Kanembwa to Kibondo airport.

Once in Nairobi, the refugees will undergo a final pre-departure health check and pre-departure briefing to complement the five-day cultural orientation classes received in the camps.

In addition, IOM will accompany refugees on all commercial flights to the US, provide medical escorts when necessary and will assist them during their transit in Europe.

The refugees will be resettled across much of the US by agencies that are preparing for the first arrivals next week.

For further information, please contact

John Walburn
IOM Kibondo
Tel +255 787 42 1119
Email: Jwalburn@iom.int