ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

Chapter III – Refugee Situations in Focus
48
1. AFRICA (excluding
North Africa)
1.1. Congolese (DRC) refugees
By the end of 2012, over half a million
refugees fled the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), making the DRC
refugee population the sixth largest
in the world. 3 Over 75% of the DRC
refugees are hosted by neighbouring
countries in the Great Lakes Region and
Southern Africa - the Republic of the
Congo (89,424), 4 Uganda (127,021), 5
Tanzania (63,330), 6 Rwanda (57,857), 7
Burundi (41,439), 8 Zambia (14,784) and
Malawi (2,558). 9
The Congolese refugee population
mainly consists of those who fled the
first and second Congo Wars in 1996-
1997 and 1998-2003, respectively.
More recently, outbreaks of violence
3 UNHCR, Global Trends 2012
4 UNHCR Projected Global Resettlement Needs 2014.
The vast majority of the DRC refugee population in
the Republic of the Congo arrived during 2009-10.
Voluntary repatriation and local integration are the
main durable solutions pursued for DRC refugees in
the Republic of the Congo, and UNHCR’s projected
total resettlement need for this population is 450
persons.
5 Ibid. This includes refugees living in both informal
settlements and in urban settings in Kampala. The
majority of the Congolese refugees in Uganda reside
in 7 refugee settlements in the western part of the
country
6 Ibid. Congolese refugees in Tanzania live in
Nyarugusu camp.
7 Ibid. In Rwanda, the vast majority of Congolese
refugees are hosted in 3 refugee camps - Nyabiheke,
Gihembe and Kiziba. Approximately 1,700 live in
urban settings in Kigali.
8 Ibid. This includes both camp and urban refugees.
Of these, 25,713 Congolese refugees in Burundi live
in 3 refugee camps - Gasorwe Kinama, Musasa and
Bwagiriza, while the remainder live in urban areas.
9 UNHCR Projected Global Resettlement Needs 2014.
Congolese refugee population registered with
UNHCR as of 1 January 2013.
in the east of the DRC have led to
approximately 45,000 refugees fleeing
to Uganda and Rwanda. 10 Contributing
factors to the persistent violence
and instability in the DRC include the
absence of functioning state authorities,
the fragility of state institutions,
tensions over land ownership and citizenship,
and externalisation of instability
in neighbouring countries. 11
The volatile security situation in many
areas of the DRC means voluntary repatriation
is not currently a viable solution
for most DRC refugees. Opportunities
for local integration in the host countries
are also very limited. While all
countries hosting DRC refugees are
signatories to the 1951 Convention,
the 1967 Protocol and the 1969 OAU
Refugee Convention, 12 several have
imposed restrictions limiting the ability
of DRC refugees to enjoy their rights,
including:
• the legal right to work 13 (Malawi,
Tanzania, Uganda, 14 Zambia);
10 Migrationsverket (Swedish Migration Board),
Continued Focus on the Horn of Africa in Sweden’s
Quota Selections for 2013, 21 February 2013
11 Paddon, E. & Lacaille, G. (Refugee Studies Centre),
Stabilising the Congo, Forced Migration Policy
Briefing 8, December 2011
12 Article 1 of the 1969 OAU Convention governing the
specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa replicates
the 1951 Convention definition, and adds that
the term ‘refugee’ ‘shall also apply to every person
who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign
domination or events seriously disturbing public order
in either part of the whole of his country of origin or
nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual
residence in order to seek refuge in another place
outside his country of origin or nationality.’
13 Reservations made to Article 17 of the 1951
Convention.
14 Although Uganda made a reservation to Article 17
of the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees’ right to
work is guaranteed in the 2006 Ugandan Refugee
Act.