TANZANIA. Kigoma and Kisulu districts in Western Tanzania. Violence against women refugees in Tanzania

Tanzania has been host to large numbers of refugees for many decades. Many refugees come to Tanzania from countries affected by conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa, such as Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In 2004, there were around 630,000 refugees in Tanzania according to government estimates. This number has dropped steadily over the last decade due to a policy of “voluntary repatriation” pursued by the Tanzanian government. The Tanzanian government plans to empty its refugee camps within this year despite fears that the situation in Burundi, the DRC and other countries within the Great Lakes region remains unstable and continues to be dangerous and potentially life-threatening for those who return.

Life in the refugee camps has been harsh for the refugees, especially women. Refugees are wholly dependent on humanitarian aid because of the 1998 Refugees Act imposed on them by government which restricts their movements as well as their right to work. These restrictions, combined with limited access to land for cultivation, insufficient food and other assistance exposes them, particularly refugee women and children to the risk of exploitation. Cases of arbitrary arrest, rape and sexual violence, harassment during the search for food and firewood, child labour and prostitution are common.
Tanzania is a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It is therefore obliged to ensure that its national laws and courts are accessible to refugees. It also has international legal obligations to guarantee that women receive equal protection under the law. Among other means, it has to ensure that police and court officials investigate, prosecute, and punish perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence against refugee women.
These laws have not been strictly enforced, leaving refugee women vulnerable. There are also conflicting interests in this issue: those of the refugees, the Tanzanian government, the governments of Burundi and the DRC, multilateral agencies such as the UN, and human rights groups.