More than 130,000 refugees and asylum-seeking children living near Tanzania’s border with Burundi could lose access to education and all essential services in coming weeks due to an accelerated repatriation programme.
KIGOMA, Tanzania, 18 February 2026 – More than 130,000 refugees and asylum-seeking children living near Tanzania’s border with Burundi could lose access to education and all essential services in coming weeks due to an accelerated repatriation programme, Save the Children said.
Tanzania has hosted large numbers of refugees for decades due to recurring conflict in neighbouring Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with many families fleeing during the 1990s and onwards.
Today, more than 230,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - 58% of them children – live in camps, villages and settlements in and around the Kigoma region [1].
Under agreements reached last year between the governments of Tanzania and Burundi together with the UNHCR, refugees from Burundi are being offered voluntary repatriation ahead of a March 31 deadline. As part of this process, the camps of Nduta and Nyarugusu – home to about 80,000 remaining Burundian refugees – are slated for closure, leaving behind Congolese refugees who are not included in the current repatriation plan.
However, recent data shows that displacement in the region is ongoing. More than 3,000 new arrivals from DRC were recorded in Tanzania in 2025 as violence again escalated. Tanzania currently hosts about 87,000 DRC refugees and 143,000 from Burundi.
At the same time, conflict in eastern DRC has driven up the number of Congolese refugees and asylum-seekers in Burundi to more than 200,000, according to the UN.
With the camp closures now imminent, global funding has declined significantly, and Save the Children is the only remaining international humanitarian organisation providing education and child protection services to over 30,000 children.
Save the Children said the accelerated repatriation campaign and a crippling funding crisis is putting children at immediate risk.
More than 60,000 children enrolled for early childhood education, primary, and secondary education in the camps are now at risk of losing access to schools when camps close especially in the absence of clear nexus programs to support transition and reintegration.
Children are also at risk of heightened sexual violence, exploitation, child labour, family separation and severe psychosocial distress if protection services are withdrawn.
In addition, conditions in parts of Burundi remain fragile, with many returnees facing acute poverty, land disputes and insecurity. Refugee rights groups have raised concerns that some return movements may not fully meet international standards for voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation
Angela Kauleni, Save the Children in Tanzania Country Director, said:
"The withdraw of services and hasty repatriation are threatening to reverse years of investment in education for Burundian refugee children, leading to protection risks, psychosocial distress, and long-term developmental harm for children.
“The situation is critical. Without immediate funding, Save the Children will be unable to sustain education and child protection services for over 30,000 refugee children during one of the most critical moments in the history of the Kigoma refugee response."
Save the Children is calling for urgent funding to sustain essential education and protection services, ensuring schools remain operational, teachers are paid, children receive psychosocial support, and critical services such as family tracing, and gender-based violence prevention continue until the very last mile.
The organisation will also continue to serve as one of the last independent monitoring and advocacy voices on the ground for refugee children and their families in Kigoma.
Ends
Notes to editors
[1] According to the Tripartite Commission which includes the governments of Tanzania and Burundi and UNHCR.
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Delfhin Mugo, Media Manager – Africa, based in NAIROBI
