Changes in Official Refugee Policies

Abstract

Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments were both credited by their citizens, African leaders, the international community, and the refugees who they hosted as having open and generous asylum policies. To quote one observer, “for decades Kenya, Tanzania… have provided security and refuge for hundreds of thousands of African refugees… they have offered land for settlement, integration, and, at times, even citizenship” (Nowrojee 2000). Tanzania allowed refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, South Africa, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe to have access to free medical services and free education, and they could travel around the country freely (USCR 1989, 46). Kenya’s refugee policies were characterized as “laissez faire” as refugees from Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia were basically free from governmental restrictions. They too had access to free education and various social services. They were not forced into camps and they enjoyed freedom of mobility (Verdirame 1999a).