Waiting for Citizenship Pragmatics of Belonging of Burundian Refugees in Protracted Exile the Case of Ulyankulu Settlement, Tanzania

London School of Economics and Political Science Waiting for Citizenship Pragmatics of Belonging of Burundian Refugees in Protracted Exile The Case of Ulyankulu Settlement, Tanzania Janna Lucia Miletzki A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography and Environment Human Geography September 2014 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, pro- vided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not to the best of my belief infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 86,896 words. All translations from Swahili to English are the author’s own. 1 ABSTRACT To what extent have refugees in Ulyankulu settlement, Tanzania, developed a sense of belonging and de facto citizenship through their agency despite government control? This question forms the basis of the research design of this thesis. Refugees have lived in protracted exile in many countries. The aim of this thesis is to assess such a situation by theorising and empirically unravelling refugees’ practices of belonging in a rural settlement. While studies within forced migration literature have been mostly empirical, some theoretical ones suggest that camps are spaces of exception that turn refugees into vic- tims without agency, or spaces of myth-making. Acknowledging these theorisations, this thesis develops a conceptual framework in which, despite control by governments and international agencies, refugees’ agency in developing a sense of belonging and claiming de facto citizenship is underlined. Ultimately, this understanding also suggests important recommendations for policy. Taking the case study of Burundian refugees in Tanzania, who arrived in the 1970s, this research is based on qualitative field research methods using techniques such as par- ticipant observation and interviews with refugees, Tanzanian citizens, agents of human- itarian organisations and the government in Ulyankulu settlement and Dar es Salaam in 2012. It analyses discourses concerning the naturalisation of Burundian refugees, and it evaluates practices and narratives of first and second generation refugees concerning their experiences of waiting for citizenship, and everyday negotiations of belonging. This thesis aims at contributing to forced migration literature, and by its considera- tions of spatiality and temporality to human geography. As a theoretical contribution, it oers a conceptual framework examining the interplay between exclusion from citizenship and a sense of belonging in the space of refugee camps. Empirically, it analyses the various forms of control over refugees, and sheds light on their interactions with refugees’ ‘pragmatics of belonging’ and ‘pragmatics of waiting’ for citizenship. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hereby I want to thank especially my supervisor, Dr. Claire Mercer, associate professor in Human Geography at the LSE, who guided me throughout the four years of my PhD as my friend and mentor with invaluable and far-reaching professional and personal support, and my review supervisor Dr. Murray Low, associate professor in Human Geography at the LSE, who gave important guidance and support especially in the last stages of the PhD. Furthermore I want to thank my parents Dr. Anna Miletzki and Dr. Rainer Miletzki, my grandmother Ettje Ackermann, and my brother Stephan Miletzki, who have given me unlimited support and care during the whole research process with a lot of patience, and to whom I stay deeply indebted. Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Opportuna Kweka, senior lec- turer in Human Geography at the University of Dar es Salaam, who acted as a reference for my research permits, and gave me essential insights for the field research; the sta of the Ministry of Home Aairs, including first and foremost Director of Refugee Services Judith Mtawali; Mr. Mushi at COSTECH, and all interview partners within the Gov- ernment, international organisations, and the media. In Tanzania I am further deeply grateful for my assistants in Ulyankulu, first of all Fransisco Leo Kweka, who assisted me in the most dedicated and professional way, but also helped and cared beyond this period in Dar es Salaam and remains a close friend; Natanael Mwanga, who assisted me in the later research phase with much enthusiasm, and Oliva Kipengele, who assisted and supported me as a friend not only in the first months of research in Dar es Salaam and in Ulyankulu, but really throughout the whole year of field research. Moreover, I want to thank Neema Mkony, human resource ocer at VETA Ulyankulu, who was acting as my local host and friend in the settlement, together with her relative Rose M., who were like a second family and supported me throughout the field research in Ulyankulu; the settlement ocer of Ulyankulu for his support and cooperation, Izengo Kulwa of TCRS Ulyankulu for his generous help, Father Katoba, Father Kaswiza, and Father Karego of Ulyankulu Catholic Church for their extensive assistance and interest in my research, Pas- tor Thomas Mabruck of Ikonongo Baptist Church, for his kind support from the start of the research in Ulyankulu, and the UNHCR sta, especially Brown Sikazwe, who helped out at various stages and became a good friend. Further I must thank all the participants in Ulyankulu, namely the (former) refugees or new Tanzanians, and other Tanzanian citizens, for their openness and welcoming atti- tude. They are indeed the protagonists of this study. Furthermore, I would like to thank Mwalimu Farouq of TAKILUKI on Zanzibar, who taught me the Swahili skills necessary for my fieldwork with passion and rigour, and my host family in Stone Town, who oered me a place to call home when I first arrived in Tanzania. I also want to thank those who helped me during the writing process and gave me comments on drafts of this thesis. I would like to especially thank Gustavo X. Bonifaz 3 for all his support and care as well as his interest in my research during the last year of the PhD, and my friends Sin-Yee Koh, Verena Brähler, Taneesha Mohan, Meredith Whitten, Matt Birkinshaw, Chris Suckling, and all other fellow PhD friends of S505 and S504 for giving inspirations throughout the research process. Finally, I want to thank my close friends Lilli Löwenau, Sabine Joseph, Michelle Ruesch, Anna Boenisch, Eva Heursen, Judith Kunert and Stefan Herweg who have always been there for me over the years. Without the help of all of them, this research would not have been possible. 4 FOREWORD When I think back to when I started my PhD and trace the process until now, the refugee situation in Tanzania changed dramatically. In 2010, the President of Tanzania emphati- cally announced the issuing of citizenship certificates to a select number of 749 Burundian refugees, who had come in the 1970s, in Dar es Salaam. In 2011, the naturalisation and relocation policy, which had been formulated in 2007, was put on hold, leaving the rest of the 162,000 refugees in Ulyankulu, Katumba and Mishamo settlements in a state of heightened uncertainty during my time of fieldwork in the year of 2012. They had already registered for Tanzanian citizenship, were referred to as NNTs (Newly Naturalised Tanzanians) by international organisations and had revoked their Burundian citizenship. From being quasi-citizens already, they became liminal, stateless beings in reality. It was not clear to any actor involved when this period of uncertainty would end. After the final submission of my thesis in September 2014, it was then surprising but relieving to see that the President Kikwete had ultimately decided to hand out the long-awaited citizenship certificates to the (former) refugees in the settlements, without requiring them to relocate to other hosting regions in Tanzania. The naturalisation ceremony occurred as a symbolic action on Nyerere Day, 14 October 2014, which marked the 15th Anniver- sary of the founding father of the nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who was known for welcoming refugees as guests. This decision was first announced by a representative of the United Republic of Tanzania at the 65th session of UNHCR’s Executive Committee held in Geneva, 29 September to 3 October 2014 (meetings 676 and 680). The representative stressed that the state would need support to renew the aging infrastructure and socioeconomic institutions in the settlements in order to facilitate the local integration of these refugees. While this decision ended the period of uncertainty for these Burundian refugees in Tanzania, and indeed ended one of the most protracted refugee situations on the African continent, this thesis aims at contributing to understand refugees’ every-day lives, motivations and challenges during a period of complete legal uncertainty - a con- dition that most refugees face at some point or indeed permanently during their time in exile. This thesis therefore does not deal with the final naturalisation and its conse- quences but with the period that led up to this critical juncture. In hindsight, one could say that by developing a sense of belonging to the

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