Programmes and Operations

Refugee Resettlement Stories

A glimpse into refugee resettlement… experiences of Europeans working in the field

Marisa Gomez, a Spanish national, has been working as an ICMC deployee for UNHCR in a refugee camp in Kibondo, North-West of Tanzania since November 2006.

Shattered lives but hope for the future

Tanzania and its Refugees

For many years Tanzania has hosted a refugee population of over 300, 000 individuals. Last year, for the first time since 1996, the number of refugees assisted by UNHCR dropped below this threshold, reaching the figure of 287, 061 refugees. Despite the decrease in refugee numbers, Tanzania continues to be the host of the largest refugee population in Africa.

It is important to recall that Tanzania's encampment policy requires refugees to stay in four designated areas within the north-western part of the country namely Kigoma, Kasulu, Kibondo and Ngara. The bulk of the resettlement work thus is carried out in these four locations, each of them holding refugee camps. The majority of refugees come from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with other smaller groups of different nationalities.

Work as a resettlement expert

I started my nine-month assignment as a resettlement expert in late November 2006; I have thus been working in Tanzania more than five months already! Time is flying... Kibondo is a village located close to the Burundian border in North-West Tanzania. For European standards, it would be labelled as a rather small village in the middle of nowhere. For Tanzanian standards, however, it is a relatively important town, appearing on international maps -probably because it proudly has its own petrol station. Yes, one could say that it is a rather isolated area. However, it is safe - there have been no major security incidents - and welcoming to "muzungus" (the Swahili word for foreigner, such as me, a Spaniard).

I live and work in UNHCR compounds, with a walking distance from each other of about 15 minutes. As a result of the isolation of the area and the close distance between both compounds, one has often the curious feeling that there is not a clear dividing line between your job and your private life. I have come to terms with this situation, which was alien to me, and I enjoy my time nonetheless. This is mostly, I have to say, because I have been lucky with my colleagues; we get along quite well - luckily indeed because in this situation your colleagues all of a sudden are also your family and your friends.

My deployment to UNHCR through the ICMC/UNHCR agreement consists mainly in identifying and interviewing refugees who are in need of resettlement. Resettlement is considered by UNHCR as one of the three durable solutions for refugees, the other two being local integration and voluntary repatriation. But it is also a valuable tool of protection, sometimes the only real effective one for those refugees who find themselves in very vulnerable situations, as the many cases I have come across during my work here in the camp.

Resettlement as a Tool of Protection

Many refuge women arrive as 'single' women in the camp: they lost their husbands during the flight or witnessed their killing and are left alone to take care of the children. The Burundian society is a very patriarchal one, meaning that, when women find themselves without the protection of a male family member whether a husband, father or brother, they become vulnerable and exposed to all kinds of abuses by their fellow refugees and even sometimes by members of the host society.

I remember in particular the case of a Burundian refugee, Josephine*. She arrived with her husband but after some time he disappeared from the camp, abandoning her and their children. From that time on, Josephine became the victim of systematic sexual assaults at the hands of fellow refugees in the camp. Josephine did go to the camp authorities to report the sexual assault but initially they did not take her claim seriously. The camp chairman finally became aware of Josephine's problems and told UNHCR field staff who in turn informed the Protection Unit and she began to get help. There have been other cases of violence against women refugees in the camps that have left women physically battered and psychologically traumatised.

There were also the stories about the atrocities and the serious mistreatment that refugees had witnessed and the trauma of those who had survived sometimes as the only members of their families. Stories about awful things, beyond what I could have ever imagined, have affected me deeply and will never leave me. Some traumatic experiences left the refugees themselves broken, depressed and sometimes even suicidal. Many refugees suffer from serious trauma as a result of the torture they were subject to or have witnessed. The depth of the psychological damage caused still needs to be medically diagnosed, in the majority of the cases.

A chance for a new beginning…

The only way to provide Josephine with effective protection was to remove her from the camp as soon as possible. Since relocation to another camp was not considered a solution as she could be exposed to similar risks there and returning to her country of origin was not an option either, her case was referred for resettlement as a 'women-at-risk' on an 'urgent' basis (processing of the case in a couple of weeks) The Swedish government that accepted the case of Josephine for resettlement.

For many survivors of torture the necessary psychological, and sometimes physical, treatment and care is not available in the camps or in the country of asylum where they reside. For these refugees, the opportunity of being resettled to another country where such facilities exist is life saving; it is the only way for them to try to overcome the horror and agony they have experienced and start all over again.

I really hope that these resettled refugees will be allowed to start a new life in their country of resettlement, and I am sure that, with the appropriate counselling, they will be an asset to the host society… Can you imagine the amount of wisdom that a survivor of violence has and will carry wherever he or she goes? It is not poverty or disease that refugees carry along with them, but an infinite sense of endurance and hope for the future if met by the host community with understanding and compassion. A UNHCR colleague always adds to her e-mails "a refugee is a person like me, like you". How would you feel, if what happened to Josephine ever happens to you?

* All names in the article are fictive in order to protect the identity of the refugees in question

Map of Tanzania