Shutting an open door: Tanzanian refugee situation since 1985

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, grade: 1.5, The Australian National University, language: English, abstract: The east African country of Tanzania, once praised for its ¿Open Door Policy¿ and its committed

support for refugees fleeing turmoil in their respective home countries, has shifted dramatically

within the last two decades. This paper will investigate the changed policy of the Tanzanian

government towards continuous refugee influx after its independence in 1964. It is apparent that

perceptions of refugees have also shifted in local, regional and international arenas and due to the

confines of this paper, developments on these fronts will only be mentioned peripherally.

The refugee situation in the Great Lake Region of Tanzania is of exceptional importance for a

selected number of reasons:

1) Tanzania has been host to the highest number of refugees on the African continent therefore

putting a uncontested burden on the nation

2) The country acts as case for an increasing awareness of sovereignty, especially in terms of

national security in post colonial Africa

3) The historical implications of ethnic separation questions the notion of territoriality in a

region still struggling to create stability

4) Government leadership and ideology influence the perception of refugees and therefore the

formulation of policy

This paper will investigate the above, firstly outlining the refugee arrivals in western Tanzania since

independence; secondly investigating the perception of refugees under the presidency of the Pan

Africanist, Julius Nyerere until 1985; thirdly it will account for refugee policy adjustments

implemented by the government post Nyerereism; and lastly by concluding the above notions

utilising the findings of the preceding paragraphs. Tanzania has been a safe haven for refugees from its western neighbours, namely Burundi, Congo

(former Zaire), Uganda and Rwanda for several decades and the country has continuously hosted

refugees from these countries. Estimates on the number of refugees vary greatly, and no exact

number can be drawn from existing figures post Tanzanian independence, but it is reasonable to

assume refugee volumes of several hundred thousand up to a million from 1959 until 1993. Refugees arriving in the biggest wave between 1993 and 1998 from Rwanda, Burundi and the

Democratic Republic of Congo are thought to have reached close to 1.3 million people.