NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH Working Paper No. 32 UNHCR’s withdrawal from Kiryandongo: anatomy of a handover Tania Kaiser Consultant UNHCR CP 2500 CH-1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland e-mail:
[email protected] October 2000 These working papers provide a means for UNHCR staff, consultants, interns and associates to publish the preliminary results of their research on refugee-related issues. The papers do not represent the official views of UNHCR. They are also available online at <http://www.unhcr.org/epau>. ISSN 1020-7473 Introduction The Kiryandongo settlement for Sudanese refugees is located in the north-eastern corner of Uganda’s Masindi district. Part of a former cattle ranching area, land there was gazetted by the Ugandan government for use by refugees in 1990. The first transfers of refugees took place shortly afterwards, and the settlement is now well established, with land divided into plots on which people have built houses and have cultivated crops on a small scale. Anthropological field research (towards a D.Phil. in anthropology, Oxford University) was conducted in the settlement from October 1996 to March 1997 and between June and November 1997. During the course of the fieldwork UNHCR was involved in a definitive process whereby it sought to “hand over” responsibility for the settlement at Kiryandongo to the Ugandan government, arguing that the refugees were approaching self-sufficiency and that it was time for them to be absorbed completely into local government structures. The Ugandan government was reluctant to accept this new role, and the refugees expressed their disbelief and feelings of betrayal at the move.