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Zanzibari Refugees Demand Guarantees To Return Home
MOMBASA, Kenya, March 13 (News Agencies) - Zanzibar refugees marooned in a makeshift camp at Shimoni on the Kenyan coast are seeking guarantees before they return home to their offshore island state, their leaders said here Tuesday.
"We are ready to go home, but under certain guarantees by our government and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa himself, who must show total commitment to end the Zanzibar crisis," Miraj Hariri, one of 17 legislators camping at Shimoni with 2,270 of their compatriots, said.
The refugees have been camping at the small fishing and trading post since early February after fleeing post-election violence that rocked the semi-autonomous Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on January 26th, leaving at least 33 people dead.
Last Friday, the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary Party) signed an agreement with the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), to end the political crisis in the Indian Ocean islands.
CUF has been demanding a re-run of last October's disputed presidential elections in Zanzibar, which coincided with elections in the rest of Tanzania.
Zanzibari President Amani Karume defeated CUF secretary general Shariff Hamad, who has twice run for the presidency.
Saying that they were offering an olive branch for peace, the legislators pointed out, however, that they were skeptical Mkapa could change direction and address the disputed polls.
"We shall return home once Mkapa's government agrees to guarantee our safety and freedom, witnessed by international observers. We can't go back to face prison or prosecution for demanding our rights," Hariri said.
The refugees' stand is supported by an influential group of local Kenyan Muslim clergy, who persuaded the refugees to break a three-day hunger strike last week.
Sheikh Juma Ngao of the Council of Imams and Muslim Preachers of Kenya said Mkapa must prove he is genuine in efforts to resolve the crisis.
The refugees' hunger strike was in protest at Kenyan authorities' order to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to relocate them to Daadab camp in northeastern Kenya - home to thousands of Somali refugees who have fled conflict in their countries.
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