Members of the East African Legislative Assembly and Secretariat officials on Thursday visited Kinazi camp which hosts people who were recently evicted from Tanzania.More than 7,000 peopls have so far been evicted.The tour started in a camp where people claiming to be Tanzanians are hosted.Reacting to the demand of the evicted people, the Deputy Secretary General EAC, Charles Njoroge, said the issue would be addressed.“We have seen for ourselves what went wrong...we shall advise accordingly. We shall talk to our superiors of this human suffering ...we need to co-exist. I know negotiations are going on. We shall discuss it in Arusha (EAC headquarters),” he said.Zehen Abu-Bakr, who heads EALA’s commission in charge of foreign relations and conflict resolution, spoke of the need to end human suffering.“We are assessing the issue at our level ...we heard your grievances, but I request you to be patient. Don’t be hostile and unruly, we shall soon give you feedback on what we shall have done,” he told the evictees.The Minister for East African Community Affairs, Jacqueline Muhongayire, noted that the situation was a setback to the community.Free movement of goods, people“We say we are one people in the (EAC) community with free movement of people and goods. We shall, however, not tire, but push on to end such challenges,” she said.Ambrose Kamari Katare, 49, a Tanzanian national urged EAC officials to negotiate their return to their homeland as soon as possible, noting that the good hospitality offered to them in Rwanda was not enough to keep them in refuge.“We were not given any chance to talk...soldiers forced us into waiting trucks that drove us up to the border. We want to forgive those who wronged us, but this will only be after they take us back home,” he said.Monica Karunguba, 15, who was in Primary seven, said that she was told by police men that she was a Rwandan and forced to join the evicted group.“I know nothing about Rwanda...but policemen looked at me and said that; ‘look, this is a pure Rwandan’. I was put on a lorry with people they said were Rwandans. I am supposed to be seating for National Exams, but I can’t,” she said.Last month Tanzanian authorities expelled supplosed illegal immigrants from the northwestern region of Akagera.
