Burundi refugees now poach with impunity

2007-11-19 08:48:24
By Patrick Kisembo


The government has directed security organs in the north-western regions to stamp out rampant poaching activities taking place in national parks and game reserves.

The illegal activities, most of them occurring in Rukwa Region, are believed to be conducted by refugees from neighbouring Burundi.

Home Affairs Minister Joseph Mungai issued the order in response to reports that the refugees were financing their political parties as well as earning their living through poaching in a number of national reserves in Tanzania, particularly the Ugalla National Reserve.

Mungai told The Guardian in an interview that refugees who did not adhere to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)`s rules and regulations and invaded the reserves were nothing but poachers.

`If they go for poaching, then these are not refugees?they are poachers. Once caught, the law will take its course,` he said.

The minister, said, however, that there were other refugees, who were good farmers and had contributed to the country`s economy.

`Our security apparatus shouldn?t disturb such people,` he said.

Mungai said all the refugees would be sent back to their home countries by next year, according to an agreement between Tanzania and their countries of origin.

In a separate interview, Mpanda District Commissioner Thobias Sijabati said poaching undertaken by refugees was a serious problem as it threatened the environment of both Ugalla Game Reserve and Katavi National Park.

According to the DC, a big portion of the destruction is done by poachers from Katumba and Mishamu camps.

He said the refugees employed `heavy military weapons` when illegally hunting wild animals as well as cutting down forest trees.

He said it seemed as if the poachers, especially those originating from refugee camps, had `a big plan to loot our natural resources.` He suggested their immediate removal from the country as the only solution to the problem.

The DC also said that even when ordinary citizens were involved in poaching activities, they were usually influenced by refugees through supply of heavy weapons as well as tactics.

As part of efforts to curb the problem, Sijabati said: `We are undertaking a joint operation with TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks authority) and the police.`

The Mpanda DC said a house-to-house search in refugee camps intended to identify those who were involved in poaching in surrounding parks and reserves was recently undertaken. `We managed to arrest some, but most of them escaped,` he said.

Reached for comments, Rukwa Region Police Commander Germanus Mponguliana admitted that poaching activities had been taking place in both Ugalla Game Reserve and Katavi National Parks.

However, he declined to go into details, saying the police were not directly involved in anti-poaching activities, and did so only when requested by either TANAPA or the anti-poaching unit.

`In collaboration with other authorities, we once seized 10 elephant carcasses, and also impounded 80 kgs of elephant meat last year,` he said.

Chris Timbuka, the Head of Katavi National Park told this paper in another interview: `We have few cases here whereby refugees from Katumba undertake poaching in the park. We sometimes manage to arrest them, but it becomes difficult to hold them responsible once they are sent to court,` he said.

He said most of the suspects were granted bail by the courts and thereafter disappeared because they did not have permanent residences.

Confirmed reports that were published a fortnight ago by this newspaper revealed that refugees based in Mpanda District were poaching at will in the Ugalla National Reserve.

Addressing a news conference in Tabora, the Ugalla Wildlife Reserve Assistant Manager, Elijah Kazungu, said an estimated 80 per cent of poaching activities in the said area were being conducted by refugees from neighbouring countries, particularly Burundi.

Elaborating, he said 171 poachers were involved in 110 wildlife hunting cases in the reserve which was established in 1965.

`The poaching is done on immense scale. These people are applying war-like methods,` he said.

He said the poachers were using heavy guns infiltrated into the country through Lake Tanganyika.

Kazungu said that the matter was further complicated by lack of reliable infrastructure in both Ugalla and Katavi reserves, especially during the rainy seasons.

Investigations carried out by PST have revealed that poachers use bicycles to transport their loot to Lake Tanganyika from where it is ferried to Burundi and other neighbouring countries.

The Ugalla Reserve, which stretches into Urambo and Sikonge Districts in Tabora Region and parts of Mpanda District in Rukwa Region, has attracted poachers from neighbouring countries.

Lack of required personnel and equipment is partly blamed for the existence of the problem.

SOURCE: Guardian