Tanzania recently expelled 5,000 illegal Rwandan immigrants over alleged criminal activities.

The East African Community (EAC) earlier this week expressed grave concern about the current standoff between Tanzania and Rwanda over the expulsion of illegal Rwandan immigrants from the Kagera region, pointing out that the development was a setback to regional integration efforts.

Speaking on August 26, 2013, the Secretary General of EAC, Dr Richard Sezibera, insisted that the standoff had to be resolved urgently, adding that efforts were underway to have the two countries sort out their differences, the Daily Nation newspaper said. Differences between Rwandan leader, Paul Kagame and Tanzania's President, Jakaya Kikwete, started last May during the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where Kikwete urged Rwanda to talk to FDLR rebels based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC. Rwandan authorities did not take kindly to the suggestion. 

Jeune Afrique magazine of August 25-31, 2013 reported that President Kikwete, after being ‘insulted’ in the Rwandan media for his remarks, last month threatened to expel all illegal immigrants in a bid to combat high crime wave. Soon after the announcement, local people and authorities in the northeast of the country are said to have begun tracking down Rwandans, expelling at least 5,000 to Rwanda.

The Head of State’s instructions were not well implemented as only Rwandans or those associated with them appeared to have been targeted. UNHCR offices in neighbouring Burundi and DRC said they did not notice any influx of refugees from Tanzania. Some of the deportees were born in Tanzania or lived there for over 30 years. A 70-year-old man recounted how he lost everything as he only had a few hours to get set for deportation to a country he no longer knew.