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U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 - Tanzania

Tanzania hosted approximately 330,000 refugees at the end of 1998: some 260,000 from Burundi, about 60,000 from Congo-Kinshasa, about 5,000 from Rwanda, and 4,000 from Somalia.

Tanzania also hosted more than 100,000 persons whose refugee status was unclear, but who lived in refugee-like circumstances. One group consisted of about 5,000 Rwandans whose entitlement to full refugee status remained undetermined pending possible future screening. A second group consisted of approximately 100,000 Burundians and some Rwandans who fled to Tanzania in previous decades and continued to live there in 1998.

Refugees from Burundi

For decades, Tanzania has hosted large numbers of Burundian refugees escaping endemic political and ethnic violence in Burundi.

During 1997-98, tens of thousands of new Burundian refugees sought safety in western Tanzania, while tens of thousands of other Burundian refugees departed Tanzania to return to areas of Burundi where security had improved. At least 20,000 new refugees arrived in 1998 – the actual number might have been even higher – and approximately 15,000 others repatriated.

Most Burundian refugees lived in eight camps strung along western Tanzania's 320-km (200-mile) border with Burundi. Burundian government officials charged that the refugee camps in Tanzania served as rebel military bases. Tanzanian authorities and UNHCR denied the charge, although Tanzanian police removed about 30 camp residents suspected of engaging in military activities.

Inspections of the camps by U.S. government officials and independent human rights researchers concluded that the camps were not used for significant military activity. Some of the camps were, however, highly politicized with competing political factions.

UNHCR "confirms the civilian character of the camps in Tanzania," the agency stated in April. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, visited the refugee camps and urged the refugees to refrain from military or political activity.

Aid workers reported that the refugees suffered a high incidence of rape and gender abuse, often at the hands of fellow refugees. UNHCR announced that it would help train and equip up to 500 Tanzanian police to improve camp security. Aid workers expanded medical care, counseling, and public awareness programs to alleviate the victimization of female refugees and other crimes.

Relations between the refugee population and local Tanzanian residents were strained. Local government officials complained that the large refugee population perpetrated murders and robberies, degraded the local environment, and took jobs from local citizens. Some 400 Tanzanians reportedly fled their homes early in the year because groups of Burundian refugees allegedly harassed them.

The eight camps housing Burundian refugees included Lukole, Mtendeli, Nduta, Kanembwa, Mkugwa, Muyovosi, Mtabila I, and Mtabila II. Food rations were generally adequate, but heavy rains in February and March caused a six-week food reduction, which some refugees violently protested.

More than 100 refugees died of malaria early in the year at one camp, and the disease remained a problem throughout the year. Aid workers reported shortages of blankets and clothes for refugee families.

Although primary schools operated, UNHCR reported that its funding constraints caused a shortage of teachers. Tanzanian authorities sent mixed signals regarding secondary school education for refugee children – the government permitted limited secondary education, but indicated that it might forbid such education in the future.

UNHCR and the governments of Tanzania and Burundi met in March to lay the groundwork for repatriating Burundian refugees willing and able to return home. Refugees who repatriated with UNHCR assistance during the year received free transportation to the border and additional help after re-entering Burundi.

"Despite continuing civil strife in parts of Burundi, there are clear indications that many refugees want to return home," UNHCR reported.

UNHCR reported no refugee expulsions by the Tanzanian government during 1998, in contrast to previous years when a series of expulsions and border closures tarnished Tanzania's reputation as one of the world's most generous asylum countries.

However, Tanzanian authorities conducted "security sweeps" in some areas of western Tanzania in 1998 that pushed some 35,000 Burundian and Rwandan nationals from their homes. Their status as refugees or non-refugees was unclear. Many of the uprooted families had lived in Tanzania for years and had become integrated into local communities. Some of the affected families moved into refugee camps, others repatriated, and some presumably moved to other areas of Tanzania.

Tanzania's parliament approved a new Refugee Act in December, but the president did not sign it into law before year's end. Local church leaders complained that once implemented, the Refugee Act would restrict refugees' rights.

Refugees from Congo-Kinshasa

The eruption of civil war in neighboring Congo-Kinshasa (formerly Zaire) in 1996-97 pushed more than 80,000 Congolese refugees into western Tanzania. A return to relative peace in the latter half of 1997 allowed some 25,000 Congolese refugees to repatriate in the final months of that year.

UNHCR continued its organized repatriation program in the first half of 1998. Some 40,000 Congolese repatriated by boat across Lake Tanganyika, which forms the border between the two countries. The return program ended abruptly, however, when renewed warfare broke out in Congo-Kinshasa in August and continued the rest of the year.

The renewed war pushed some 20,000 or more new Congolese refugees into Tanzania, including many who had recently repatriated from Tanzania. The refugees typically reached Tanzania by paying local boat owners $10 per person to cross Lake Tanganyika.

Congolese refugees primarily lived in two camps, Lugufu and Nyarugusu. Heavy flooding early in the year cut road access to Lugufu camp and temporarily forced food reductions to half-rations.

Rwandans

An estimated 10,000 Rwandan asylum seekers lived in Tanzania. Officials screened some of the Rwandans during the year to determine whether they qualified for refugee status. Thousands of Rwandans, however, reportedly did not participate in the screening exercise.

Given uncertainty about the actual refugee status of Rwandans in Tanzania, USCR classified half of the population as refugees, and half as "refugee-like."