United Republic of Tanzania Main objectives Provide protection and basic humanitarian assistance to refu- gees from Burundi, the Demo- cratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Somalia and to the urban refugees in Dar es Salaam; support the volun- tary repatriation of refugees to Burundi, Rwanda and DRC when conditions in the countries of origin permit; continue to sup- port the local integration of those refugees whom the Government had allowed to settle perma- nently; promote refugee law and help the Tanzanian goodwill of the Tanzanian people towards refugees authorities provide security in the refugee camps and asylum-seekers by providing tangible benefits to while ensuring the exclusively civilian and humani- the local population in areas affected by the presence tarian character of camps; ensure adequate emer- of refugees, including addressing the environmental gency response mechanisms, to strengthen the impact of the protracted presence of refugees; effect- capacity of UNHCR and its partners to respond ively address sexual and gender-based violence effectively to major refugee movements; maintain (SGBV) through preventative measures and provide the support of the Tanzanian Government and the legal, medical and psycho-social support for victims. Persons of Concern Main Origin / Total Of whom Per cent Per cent Type of Population In Country UNHCR assisted Female under 18 Burundi (Refugees) 540,900 370,900 51 56 DRC (Refugees) 140,300 140,300 51 57 Somalia (Refugees) 3,490 3,490 53 62 Rwanda (Refugees) 2,720 2,720 48 53 Asylum-seekers 160 160 19 - Income and Expenditure (USD) Annual Programme Budget Income from Other Funds Total Funds Total Revised Budget Contributions 1 Available 2 Available Expenditure 28,897,701 22,979,081 4,815,934 27,795,015 27,716,307 1 Includes income from contributions restricted at the country level. 2 Includes allocations by UNHCR from unearmarked or broadly earmarked contributions, opening balance and adjustments. The above figures do not include costs at Headquarters. 142 UNHCR Global Report 2002 Impact returning, as their main areas of origin continued to be under rebel control. UNHCR could therefore • UNHCR in co-operation with the Government only assist 14 refugees to return to the DRC in 2002, of Tanzania provided assistance and interna- while on-going fighting resulted in a new influx of tional protection to some 519,000 refugees. some 17,000 DRC refugees to Tanzania. In October, • UNHCR assisted with the voluntary repatriation UNHCR ran out of space to accommodate new of 54,743 refugees, of whom 31,152 returned to arrivals from DRC in the Kigoma region, where Burundi, 23,534 to Rwanda, 14 to DRC, and 43 refugees now have to remain at reception centres to other countries. awaiting permission from the Government to be • 707 refugees were accepted for resettlement, transferred to other camps. 423 of whom departed in 2002. • The construction of Chogo settlement was com- In late 2002, UNHCR and the Governments of Tanzania pleted by the year’s end, thus providing a site Tanzania and Rwanda agreed on steps to accelerate for the local integration of some 3,500 Somali the repatriation of Rwandan refugees from Tanzania. refugees, who will be relocated to the new site As a result of these measures, a total of 23,534 in 2003. Rwandans (or 97 per cent of the total Rwandan • By assisting and supporting the authorities in refugee population in Tanzania) voluntarily returned their task of providing security in the refugee home in 2002, all but 5,000 of them during the camps, efforts to preserve the civilian and months of November and December. Only some humanitarian character of the camps were to a 2,700 Rwandan refugees remained in Tanzania at large extent successful. the year’s end, and these persons will have access • UNHCR received and assisted 51,218 new to individual status determination. arrivals – the majority from Burundi (28,500), the DRC (16,900), and Rwanda (1,500) – and In the course of the year, the Government of accommodated them in existing camps. Tanzania raised the issue of the lack of adequate international support for refugee-affected areas, beyond the minor rehabilitation and construction Working environment activities carried out by UNHCR over the years. In response to these concerns, the United Nations The context Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs fielded a mission, jointly headed by UNICEF and As an ongoing consequence of the conflict and UNHCR, to gain a better understanding of the instability across several of its borders, the United Government’s position on the presence of refugees Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania) continued to host and their impact on Tanzanian society. Africa’s largest concentration of refugees in 2002, totalling almost one million persons. Although 2002 Constraints saw a record number of returnees (a total of 54,743 repatriated with UNHCR’s assistance), the number Continued conflict in the sub-region remained a of refugees receiving assistance from UNHCR in major challenge to UNHCR’s efforts to find Tanzania increased from 498,000 in 2001 to some durable solutions for the refugee population in 519,000 at the end of 2002. The decrease through Tanzania, with new arrivals from Burundi and the voluntary repatriation was largely offset by the DRC offsetting the reduction in beneficiary figures heavy influx of refugees from Burundi in late 2002 achieved by the repatriation operation. (some 18,000 arrived in October alone), in addition to natural increase through 20,760 births. Another constraint facing UNHCR’s programme in Tanzania was the Government’s policy of focusing The Inter-Congolese Dialogue held in Sun City, South on temporary asylum for refugees, with a view to Africa, in March 2002, brought together the major voluntary repatriation as soon as possible. This protagonists in the conflict in DRC, raising hopes of precluded any possibility of local integration for an improvement in the situation in the country. the majority of the refugee population and also However, Congolese refugees saw little hope of inhibited efforts to enhance their self-reliance. UNHCR Global Report 2002 143 UNHCR’s assistance to the new arrivals from DRC Refugees choosing to reside outside of the desig- was hampered by the Government’s insistence that nated area ran the risk of being rounded up by refugees arriving in the Kigoma region could not be regional authorities. In such cases UNHCR has transferred to the Kagera region, where additional advocated with the authorities that refugees should capacity existed, but should instead be accommo- not be charged for unlawful presence in Tanzania dated in an area south of Kigoma town that is under the Immigration Act, but rather that they difficult to reach. should be charged under the Refugee Act. Another major concern was the shortage of food In 2002, the Government agreed to revise the Tanzania for refugees due to WFP pipeline problems, which Refugee Act of 1998 by early 2003. During the dis- resulted in reduced food rations for most of the cussion on the planned amendment, UNHCR suc- year (20-40 per cent cuts in salt, pulses and cereals). cessfully contributed to efforts to address the short- comings of the Act. The National Eligibility Com- Funding mittee (NEC), the statutory body entrusted with reviewing all asylum and refugee status claims, did Funding constraints prevented UNHCR from not meet in 2002, despite the fact that asylum-seekers developing a new site allocated by the Government had registered with the Government. Burundian for Congolese refugees. This site would have helped and Congolese refugees continued to receive prima to ease the strain on camp infrastructure in the facie refugee status, but the Department of Refugee Kigoma region. With new arrivals from Burundi and Services refused to register a handful of individual DRC reaching already crowded camps, UNHCR asylum-seekers, arguing that they were irregular had to finance camp expansion by reducing other migrants, or could have applied for asylum in planned activities and services for the existing another country before arriving in Tanzania. population in the camps. The planned renewal of domestic supplies for long-standing refugees had UNHCR carried out a number of SGBV-awareness to be cancelled, and the distribution of non-food activities in camps, such as group meetings with items limited to new arrivals. Budget reductions community leaders, co-ordination meetings in the also caused the transfer of 3,500 Somali refugees camps, mass campaigns and training of new from Mkuyu in the Tanga region to Chogo settle- guards, implementing partner and UNHCR staff ment for local integration to be postponed to 2003. and refugee representatives. A Code of Conduct to In addition, a re-registration campaign planned in guide the behaviour and attitude of all UNHCR all camps had to be cancelled. Experience has shown staff was developed and translated into Swahili. that such exercises frequently result in downward The Office also took several measures to curb sexu- adjustments of up to ten per cent in the beneficiary al exploitation of refugees by policemen and imple- figures, which may represent as much as USD five menting partners’ staff. Refugees were encouraged million in food rations from WFP. to report any case of sexual exploitation, either by requesting a confidential meeting with UNHCR staff or through delivering anonymous notes, using Achievements and impact special mailboxes in the camps. All camps contin- ued to offer drop-in centres. There were 2,978 Protection and solutions reported incidents in total in 2002, a decrease from 2001 of almost eight per cent. With voluntary repatriation to Burundi and DRC so limited, durable solutions remained elusive for Activities and assistance the majority of refugees in Tanzania. The Govern- ment maintained its rejection of local integration, Community services: UNHCR’s family tracing therefore refugees were only granted temporary activities resulted in 61 families being successfully refugee status.