Burundi–Tanzania border

Bugufi

Until the First World War both Urundi and Tanganyika were part of German East Africa. After Belgium protested an Allied decision to give it all to Britain, it received a mandate over Ruanda-Urundi, and a protocol signed at Kigoma on 5 August 1924 drew the border. The mandate put Bugufi, the land between the Ruvubu and the Kagera that some German maps showed as part of Urundi, on the British side; in 1948 Urundi’s king petitioned the UN to get it back, without success.^[1]

Refugees

Many Burundians fled to Tanzania during the civil war of the 1990s and early 2000s, went home, then fled again during unrest in 2015. UNHCR helped some 390,000 return between 2002 and 2009, and about 162,000 were granted Tanzanian citizenship in 2014. At the end of 2025 more than 140,000 remained in the Nduta and Nyarugusu camps in Kigoma region; UNHCR said up to 17,000 feared persecution if they returned, and voiced concern about forced returns and demolished shelters.^[2]

Under a deal between the two governments to repatriate about 100,000 refugees, Nduta camp was closed at the end of April 2026. A rights group said the last 3,000 residents were forcibly loaded onto vehicles and accused UNHCR of facilitating the operation; UNHCR said the government had closed the camp under a tripartite repatriation agreement and that it had consistently raised concerns.^[3]

“There are increasing concerns from refugees on forced returns and coercive measures”^[2]