---
title: "6 things to know about refugees in Tanzania"
description: "Your mind might jump to safaris and beaches at the mention of the East African country, but Tanzania is also a key host for refugees from its neighbouring countries."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2019/6-things-you-should-know-about-refugees-in-tanzania"
language: "en"
published: "2019-03-06T09:23:06Z"
modified: "2019-03-06T09:23:06Z"
---

![Nyandwi Paulina, 51 Refugee from Burundi “I fled for two reasons. Firstly, because of the war, and secondly, because of the death of my husband. When I lost him, I had no hope to stay.” Paulina fled Burundi in 2015. A widow, she has scars from being cut with a bush knife during the flight, causing her to need surgery twice. “No, I do not want to return. I have no relatives, no land, nothing in Burundi. I can’t go home. I have no hope for Burundi, that’s why we see people arriving from there right now. There’s no hope for change.” Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09535.jpg)

# 6 things to know about refugees in Tanzania

Guri Romtveit Published 06. Mar 2019

[Tanzania](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=110) [Global displacement overview](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=302)

Paulina, 51, is a refugee from Burundi. Her husband was killed during the conflict. “When I lost him, I had no hope to stay,” she says. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC

This article was first published more than 7 years ago

Your mind might jump to safaris and beaches at the mention of the East African country, but Tanzania is also a key host for refugees from its neighbouring countries.

Here are six key facts about the situation:

### 1. Tanzania is one of the world’s most generous refugee-hosting countries

In total, 335,000 refugees live in Tanzania. The 2015 elections in Burundi sparked widespread insecurity and a new influx of refugees into Tanzania. Old refugee camps were re-opened and new ones built.

Though Burundian refugees are in the majority, around one quarter of the refugees hosted by Tanzania are from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. In DR Congo, conflict and widespread insecurity has forced millions to flee their homes, some of them making their way across Lake Tanganyika to Tanzania.

Instability in the neighbouring countries means that organisations constantly need to prepare for more refugees, although borders are mostly shut.

![Samson, 28, fled Burundi in 2015. He doesn’t see a bright future in Tanzania: “There is no future here in the camp, other than depending on WFP for food. Maybe the next time I move, it will be to resettle in a third country. Only that. I have left everything to God.” Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09509.jpg)

### 2. Tanzania has hosted refugees for a long time

Tanzania has traditionally been very welcoming to refugees. Three decades ago, over one million refugees resided in the country. Because of Burundi’s civil war in the ’90s, caused by the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, hundreds of thousands of people fled to Tanzania.

Although most returned or received citizenship in Tanzania, some of these people still live in camps today.

![The road into Mtendeli refugee camp. The camp was first built to house refugees from Burundi in the ‘90s, but was re-opened after a new refugee influx from Burundi meant Tanzania again had to provide a home for people forced to flee. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09006.jpg)

### 3. Refugees are not allowed to leave the camps

The majority of refugees reside in three refugee camps, Nyarugusu, Mtendeli and Nduta, located in the north-western areas of the country. The refugee camps are full, and refugees are not allowed to leave the camps to work, trade or go to school.

Tanzania has signalled it will prioritise returning refugees to their home countries over local integration, which forms part of the reason for the strict encampment policy. The consequence, however, is fewer opportunities for refugees to make a living or contribute to Tanzania’s economy.

![“I want you to help me find a place where I can study further, outside the camp,” says Prosper, 21, a refugee from Burundi studying ICT with NRC in Mtendeli camp. Refugees in Tanzania are not allowed to leave camps for work or school. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09098.jpg)

### 4. It’s becoming harder and harder to be a refugee in Tanzania

Last year, Tanzania [withdrew](https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/may/will-tanzania-remain-a-safe-haven-for-refugees) from the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), an initiative aimed at finding solutions for refugees and improving the situation in refugee-hosting countries, including enabling refugees to integrate into the local economy. The withdrawal has contributed to massive underfunding of aid to refugees in the country.

The government of Tanzania has made life more difficult for refugees in the camps, restricting income-generating activities and making it harder to make money within the camps, for instance by closing markets.

![“In my house, we are so very poor. There is no place here where you can go to make money. My family has nothing,” says Aline, 19, a refugee from Burundi. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09117.jpg)

### 5. The refugee response isn’t getting nearly enough money

Last year, donations amounted to just 27 per cent of the funds needed to assist refugees in Tanzania. This has caused massive shortcomings in terms of water, sanitation, shelter and education for refugees in the country. Refugees are desperately in need of serious support across all sectors, and 231 million dollars are needed to cover some of the most basic of these needs.

![Apimo, 46, from DRC has worked with NRC to build a new latrine for himself and his family. It’s lockable both from the outside and inside, so that Apimo and his family can ensure their privacy and exclusive right to their latrine. Less than half of refugees in Nyarugusu camp have their own latrine. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09376.jpg)

### 6. For every classroom that exists, there is a need for eight more.

Overcrowding and a shortage of classrooms in Tanzania keep many displaced children from getting a good education. NRC is working to increase the space available for learning, and we’ve built 19 classrooms for formal and non-formal education.

![NRC holds classes for children who have missed out of school, so that they can prepare for a return to formal schooling. Clauvis (left) and Jean Dieu (right), both 10-year-old refugees from Burundi, are listening closely to teacher Dieudonné Nimbona. Photo: Guri Romtveit/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/tanzania/2018-december-visit/dsc09197.jpg)