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Proceedings of ~ll1 African Migration Alliance Work~hop

Edited by Catherine Cmss Derik Gelderbiom Niei Roum. Joraathan Maf~kid~e

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Published by HSRC Press, Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa, www.hsrcpress.ac.za in association with Department of Social Development, Private Bag X901, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa, www.population.gov.za

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130

CIIAPTER 6

Migration and refugees in Eastern Africa: A ch.alllenge for the East African community

John 0 Oucho

Eastern Africa comprises the ten so-called 'Greater Horn of Africa' ( GHA) countries. The GHA includes: the two Great Lakes region states of Burundi and Rwanda; the three countries of East Africa - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which share much in common in terms of geography, culture, colonial background and language; and the Horn of Africa (HOA) states of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

The predominant type of population :rhobility in this region has been forced migration, due mainly to civil wars, with flows of refugees and asylum seekers often shared between neighbouring countries. In 1994-95, the Great Lakes region went through a severe and heart-rending episode of genocide and civil war before settling down and engaging in a process of peace building, leading to national reconstruction. Serious challenges of refugee movements were experienced during the time of civil war.

Prior to this episode, the East African countries forged a longstanding 'economic union' in 1948, which- after collapsing in 1977- was resuscitated in 1996 and became fully operational in 2000. This regional association has successfully sustained migration between the three East African countries for many years. While Uganda was embroiled in civil war in the 1970s, Kenya and Tanzania remained havens of peace, hosting large numbers of refugees from their neighbours, often at great cost to their national economies. This problem has no t yet died down: pockets in Uganda are still experiencing the disorders of war today, with costs and casualties continuing to be felt at home and across borders. But since the re-establishment of the East African Community

(EAC) in 1997, the three East African countries have been forging closer economic, political and social solidarity, which has attracted their formerly conflict-ridden neighbours to seek admission to the EAC.

Against this background, this chapter seeks to shed light on migration and refugees in the GHA over the last two decades in order to suggest the way forward for a region that is bound to become closer than ever before. It sets the tone by first examining the genesis, spread and consequences of refugee flows in both the Great Lakes Region (GLR) and the HOA. Thereafter, the paper isolates the EAC migration as a classical case of the difficulties of institutionalising the free movement of persons. This is something that has largely eluded the different regional economic communities in Africa, with the exception of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose protocol for free movement is on course. Against these movements, the chapter depicts the future of migration and refugees in the GHA to enable the states therein to grapple with the challenges that these human flows will pose. The chapter concludes on a policy note in calling for systematic research on migration and refugees in the GHA, so as to, among other things, enable individual states, multi-state organisations and regional institutions to choose the best options for managing these movements.

In the changing GHA, migration and refugees are likely to influence regional and national levels in a way that is not predictable at this stage. Greater interdependence of the GHA countries is inevitable; in the proposed enlarged EAC, which would involve a political federation, such movements could be better managed for the mutual benefit of sending and receiving countries. In addition, the flows and utilisation of migrant remittances are bound to increase in recipient communities. The feasibility of converting the GHA brain drain into a brain gain, as well as of deploying its diaspora and returned refugees in national and regional development, will also increase.

Already, the current situation provides hope for increased and less restricted population mobility in Eastern Africa. For instance, the citizens of EAC and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states now enjoy visa-free entry wherever they go in the regions, and citizens of EAC member states can be issued with a common passport as well as common arrival/departure forms at international airports. Yet, the major challenge will be the harmonisation of national legislation, policies and practices in an effort to improve the management of migration and refugees in the region.

H I

132

VIEWS ON MIGRATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

According to the United Nations 2002 revised edition of the World Population Prospects, the estimated African international migrant stock increased from 9.4 rnillion in 1960 to 16.3 million in 2000, with the figures for Eastern Africa being 3.1 million and 4.5 million respectively. The stock peaked in 1990 at 5.1 million for Eastern Africa before it decreased (Zlotnik 2004). A comparative analysis of migration in Western-Central (or Middle) Africa and Eastern-Southern Africa before the 1990s (Adepoju 1990) suggested that there were significant differences in the determinants and consequences of international migratory movements between the two sets of contiguous subregions . That analysis set the tone of the one and only conference to bring together migration scholars from Eastern and Southern Africa which foresaw a migration research network (Migration Network for Eastern and Southern Africa [MINESA]) for the two sub-regions (Oucho 1993).

)

Since then, migration research and the issue of migration management strategies have become important in the countries mentioned above as well as in Southern Africa, though Eastern Africa - to which this paper refers as the GHA - still has little to show in terms of migration work. This GHA region covers ten countries with different characteristics. The two GLR states of Burundi and Rwanda have never experienced peace since independence; they h<Jve seen successive military regimes, which triggered refugee outflows and left indelible scars of strife and civil wars.

The EAC states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have remained partners since the end of World War II, gaining independence at nearly the same time and evolving economic co-operation for much of the last half-century. To their east, the HOA states of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan have suffered as much trauma times as the GLR countries.

With the establishment of refugee study centres in most of these countries, the impression may be created that only forced migration has been taking place in the GI-IA. 1 Eastern Africa had Africa's largest concentration of refugees between 1980 and 1990. This accounted for 54 per cent of the migrant stock in 1990, declining to 36 per cent in 2000 (Zlotnik 2004). However, a scrutiny of the GI-IA. region suggests that it comprises three clusters with different migration characteristics that have been precipitated by equally different circumstances.

;

M IGRATION AND REFUGEES IN EASTERN A FRI CA i

First, the GLR has recently come out of protracted political turmoil and is still contending with returned or repatriated refugees and asylum seekers, with rehabilitation and peace building underway. Second, the EAC has longstanding ties that have fostered 'free' movement of their citizens since the first edition of an economic union way back in 1948. \A/hen Uganda experienced military dictatorship in 1971-1979, and then an uneasy peace in 1980-1986, its two neighbours readily hosted refugees from Uganda. Finally, the HOA has experienced the longest episode of civil war, culminating in the liberation of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993; Ethiopia then became a federal republic. Subsequently, the embattled southern and northern Sudan regions signed a peace accord on 9 January 2005, and the Somali factions signed a peace agreement and formed a government-in-exile in 200L1.

This background underlines one notable fact: that only Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti have been islands of peace in a war-torn region where refugees dominate the scene and overshadow whatever voluntary migration takes place.

Forced migration in the GLR and HOA

Refugee flows associated with civil disorders in the GHA have numbered in the millions, and have appeared and disappeared on an unpredictable basis. Some refugees have left their host countries after brief stays, but others have remained for generations. The effects on the society, economy and politics of the host countries have been very great.

Stock and flows of refugees it•

Both the GLR and the HOA have undergone a traumatic political evolution that included military regimes. These regimes left in their wake civil wars of unprecedented proportions. These upheavals triggered forced migration, taking the form of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees as well as asylum seekers.

B3

V I EWS ON MIGRATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFR ICA

Table 6.1 Refugee population in the GLR, East Africa and the HOA, 1995

and 2001

Country /Territory Principal places Number Difference of ('000)

1995 2001 1995-2001

Burundi Rwanda 140 009 1 000 -139 000

DRC 5 000 n.a.

140 000 6 000 -136 000

20 000

5 000

25 000 ·-·-------· ·-

Ethiopia Somalia 230 000 120 000 - 110 000

Sudan 60 000 70 000 + 10 000

Eritrea 3 000 n.a

Djibouti 10 000 1 000 -9 000

Kenya 8 000 n.a.

308 000 194 000 -114 000

l<enya Somalia 170 000 160 000 -10 000

Sudan 40 000 55 000 + 15 000

Ethiopia 5 000 8 000 +3 0000

Uganda n.s 5 000 n.a.

Other 10 000 5 000 -5 000

225 000 233 000 +8 000

Sudan Eritrea 340 000 350 000 +1 0 000

Ethiopia 100 000 25 000 -75 000

Other 6 000 5 000 -1 000

446 000 380 000 -66 000

Tanzania Rwanda 500 000 30 000 -470 000

Burundi 180 000 400 000 +220 0000

Zaire 15 000 110 000 +95 000

Other 3 000 3 000 0

694 000 543 000 -151 000 ~-·- --·-·-· ..

Country/Territory of asylum

Uganda

Zaire (DRC)

Sudan

Zaire

Rwanda

Other

Rwanda

Burundi

Sudan

Uganda

Other

Note: n.a. = not applicable; n.s.= not stated

Source: UNHCR Report o n Refugees {2002) \

MIGRATION AND REFUGEES IN EASTERN AFRICA

210 000 200 000 -10 000

15 000 10 000 . -5 000

5 000 15 000 +10 000

5 000 n. a.

230 000 230 000 0

900 000 -"189 000

110 000 20 000 -90 000

110 000 70 000 -40 000

10 000 10 000 0

2 000 n. n.

1 132 "101 000 -1 031 000

The genesis of forced migration in the GLR was inilitary coups d'etat in Burundi and Rwanda soon after independence in the early 1960s. Refugees from the two countries fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Uganda, where generations of them lived up to the late 1990s, when peace returned to those countries. The Banyamulenge ofDRC are in fact Rwandan refugees who fled to or were born in the host country. In Tanzania, efforts were made to make refugees responsible for their upkeep in the areas reserved for them, largely because the country found them too costly for its '~' fragile economy. When the refugee stock kept swelling, the country advised the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) that it could no longer accept more refugees.

For several decades, Uganda hosted large numbers of Rwandan Tutsi refugees, eventually assisting them to launch a civil war that led to the overthrow of the majority Hutu regime in Rwanda. With peace in the country, recently endorsed by democratic elections, Rwanda has been receiving returned or repatriated refugees who are ready and willing to participate in national reconstruction. That Rwanda's application for membership of the EAC has been favourably received implies its acceptance by its immediate neighbours.

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VIEWS ON M IGRATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The HOA has witnessed other dramatic changes since the early 1970s. The HOA countries have been major sources of emigrant labour as well as of refugees to the Gulf States, which are only separated from these countries by the Red Sea. In the destination countries, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have granted menial jobs in services and domestic labour to migrant workers from these countries (Oucho 2003).

In 1974, Ethiopian armed forces overthrew the fascist rule of Emperor Haile Selassie I, forcing increasing volumes of refugees to flee the country. These refugees went to Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, as well as overseas to Yemen and to different parts of the developed North. Ethiopians took the protracted civil war in their country over nearly two decades as an opportunity to emigrate overseas as refugees, workers and businessmen. It has been estimated that Ethiopia has the largest number of nationals of any GHA nation in the US, and the second largest in Mrica after Nigeria (Shinn 2002), which explains why 'Ethiopian' restaurants now dot many US cities in the same fashion as Chinese restaurants. Ethiopia is known for well-trained professionals (doctors, engineers, university lecturers and so on) who have depended on their skills as they move to other countries either as refugees or to seek employment.

r '

After securing its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has made steady progress as a nation of great dreams. The country's government has inculcated a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism in Eritreans, encouraging them to compete with their Ethiopian neighbours through well-organised remittance flows and through virtual participation in national development; it is almost obligatory for Eritreans to observe these requirements wherever they reside -all for the good of their hard-won independence.

All the HOA countries, with the exception of Djibouti, have only recently come out of protracted civil wars, and their ongoing or envisioned rehabilitation may trigger new migration patterns. In the post-civil war era, both Eritrea and Ethiopia are, however, witnessing return migration and repatriation of refugees who had spent many years overseas.

Sudan has been experiencing emigration of skilled nationals in the north, and has seen large t1ows of refugees as well as of non-skilled and skilled people qut of the south. It has been estimated that some 500 000 skilled Sudanese are currently working abroad (Oucho 2003). The Sudanese diaspora is widespread, found in many African, European, and North American

M I GRAT ION AND REFUGEES IN EASTERN AFRICA

countries, where the displaced southerners have been hosted in third-country resettlement programmes. With the recent Nairobi peace accord of January 2005, some Sudanese refugees have begun returning home, though other!!. remain sceptical of post -cont1ict peace. Sudan presents a test case of how Mrica can sustain home-grown peace and rehabilitation in respect of the· southern Sudanese who have !mown nothing but civil war for nearly two decades, with devastating consequences for education and human resource development.

As its political stalemate holds, only Somalia remains an emigration country in respect of both migrants and refugees. Surprisingly, the enterprising nature of Somalis has led to the formation of the Somali Financial Services Association (SFSA) , which among other things fosters investment and development in the . _ .. . war-devastated country. The low educational attainment of Somalis seems to / leave them with only one important option: to engage in businesses for both ! •1

survival and development. I

As Somalis search individually for livelihoods and strive for national i development, a territorial entity that was part of Somalia before 1991 has now 1 · ' 1

become Somaliland, an independent state that the international community l.

has yet to recognise. However, its nationals have ·become exceptionally l aggressive in promoting their cause and proving to world nat~ons .and \ organisations that they are in every way different from the Somah factions 1 that still engage in civil war. The Somalia case poses serious challenges for the ! African Union, which discourages partition of its member states.

Internally displaced persons

It is difficult to arrive at an accurate estimate of IDPs and refugees, as the figures based on standard procedures differ from those including anyone living in refugee-like conditions. Crisp's (1999) apt caution - 'Who has counted the refugees? UNHCR and the politics of numbers' - needs serious consideration in the host countries. Individual governments of the GHA states no doubt know the number of refugees they host, but may underestimate or overestimate the figure depending on the response they wish to attract from the international community. In any case, it is even more difficult to estimate the number of IDPs, particularly where governments that have been accused of repressing their own citizens may wish to conceal the actual numbers of those affected.

137

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138


By the end of 1995, four countries in the region had more than 1.5 million IDPs; namely Rwanda (500 000), Burundi and Somalia (300 000 each), Zaire (225 000) and Kenya (210 000). The total number was less than half of the total regional refugee population of 3.2 million (US Committee for Refugees 1996:6). Nonetheless, the combined force of so-called 'uprooted people' (WCC 1996) compounded the problem of human displacement in the GHA region. Just before the first half of 2002, the situation had changed dramatically as there were twice as many IDPs as refugees who required relief in that year, due to conflict in the ten GHA countries (Table 6.2). These figures might still understate the actual number of people in refugee-like situations, since they include only those recognised by standard procedures as eligible for protection.

Table 6.2 Number of people requiring relief in 2002 due to conflict

Returns

3 367

90 000

Somalia 200 305 000 50

Kenya 215 000

Uganda

Rwanda 25 000

244 441

412 808

Others Totals

296 545 2 912 378

213 694 379 365

20 000

220 179

25 605

355 200

215 000

710 926

80 000

907 250

480 000

530 239 6 285 903

Note: DRC not included given the scope of the project from which the data are drawn

Source: http://www.fews.net/centers/c_center.cfm>cy_id=r2&mewr_id=O&Iang_id=en&rs_id=submit=no (quoting UN agencies)

In Eastern Africa, the inseparable trio of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania used to exchange migrant labour during the heyday of the first thirty-year East African economic union (1948-1977), even though this body later suffered interruptions in its historical continuity which affected exchanges. The open borders of these countries, both to one another and to the contiguous states of the ·GHA region - namely Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia,

MIGRATION AND REFUGEE S IN EAS TERN AFRIC A

Malawi and Mozambique - stimulated not only documented but also unauthorised migration .

For nearly two decades of the first East African economic union, all the EAC countries allowed their citizens to move freely from one country to the other. When Uganda came under military rule, Kenya and Tanzania adopted a 'help-thy-neighbour' attitude, allowing inflows of Uganda refugees as well as job seekers. This resulted in strained relations between Uganda and its two neighbours - in particular Tanzania, which had granted political asylum to the deposed civilian president. To settle scores with Uganda, which had twice bombed some of its cities, Tanzania dispatched its troops to overrun Uganda and reinstall another Milton Obote regime in 1979. But luck was not with Obote: his government was overthrown again by Ugandan soldiers before the latter were removed by Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army regime, which has ruled the country since 1986.

Between 1984 and 1987 the Kenyan authorities, grappling with unemployment and other negative economic factors, expelled Ugandans irrespective of their residence status in Kenya. These events brought the longstanding free movement of East Africans to an end until the second EAC federation was established, since which time many positive signs suggest that history will most likely sustain the free-movement process in Eastern Africa. These signs include adoption of a common passport and emigration/immigration formalities for their citizens (noted earlier), as well as a political federation slated to be created in due course.

Immigration into Uganda illustrates the instability of international migration in the region (Table 6.3). Kenya, which had one-fifth of all immigrants in Uganda ~~

by 1969, had slightly less than 8 per cent in 1991. The change resulted from return migration of Kenyans following Idi Amin's coup d'etat in the country of destination in 1971. The heavy immigration of Rwandans is both the result of constant demand for farm workers in Uganda's plantation agriculture, and of influxes of refugees from time to time (Otunnu 1999). The proportion of immigrants from Zaire (now DRC) remained stable in the two Ugandan censuses. Evidently, the vast majority of Ugandan immigrants were from GHA countries, though neighbouring Tanzania is not an important source.

139

"140

VltWS ON MIGRATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Table 6.3 Percentage distribution of immigrant population in Uganda,

-1 .969-1991

8.64

7.01

35.21 33.27

13.57 8.91

13.76 16.68

23.57

98.07

0.53

4.33 3.79 1.93 1.40

100 100 100 100

So urce: Republic of Uganda 1995:165

Total

7.52

7.63

34.29

11.36

15 .15

21.78

97.73

0.60

1.68

100

The collapse of the first EAC in 1977 left the citizens of the member states with one common option: to migrate to Southern African countries where employment opportunities existed - South Africa's bantustans during the apartheid regime, Zimbabwe at independence in 1980, Botswana since the 1980s, Namibia since 1990 and South Africa since 1994. A large number of EAC citizens moved to the UK, Canada and the US where they now constitute different generations of diaspora. This explains why the issues of migrant remittances, return migration (including the conversion of brain drain into brain gain), and deployment of diaspora members in development activities have gained importance in these countries, as indeed in other GHA countries. Like Western Africa, the East African sub-region was an important source of skilled emigrants to the three buoyant economies in Southern Africa. This constituted a steady flow in the wake of previous movements by Ugandans to South Africa's homelands during apartheid and by other Eastern Africans to the sub-region over the last decade. Kenya, which used to be a major immigration country, given its political stability and impressive economic performance before the turn of the 1990s, has now become an important source country since the last decade, its nationals moving in droves to Southern Africa as well as beyond the African continent.


The GHA region has not generated as much migration research, or a regional consultative process on migration, as the other African sub-regions. However, it recently came into the orbit of consultative processes when the International Migration Policy (IMP) programme convened a GHA-wide conference in Nairobi in May 2002, which drew participants from all coqntries of the region as well as from Yemen, which receives migrants and refugees from Eastern Africa. The conference set in motion a number of activities that were subsequently reviewed in a follow-up meeting in Addis Ababa in 2003. As a region that has been very much afflicted by forced migration, the GI-IA region has to continue paying particular attention to this disruptive movement while at the same time looking into voluntary forms of migration likely to set in as the formerly war-torn countries embark on the path of rehabilitation and development.2

Contemporary migration issues, policies and iu'~Y gap:li

Table 6.4 suggests that two dominant forms of mobility coexist in the GHA: immigration into and circulation within the EAC, and the risk of refugee processes both in the GLR and the HOA. As noted above, remittance flows and converting brain drain into brain gain, as well as possible deployment of the regional diaspora in development, have recently become issues of considerable significance. These developments have aroused concerns about improved management of migration and refugees - including repatriation of the latter- and also about the preparedness of countries of origin to deal with the return of emigrants and refugees, organised utilisation of remittances, the brain drain and the diaspora. Key gaps still exist, such as accurate numerical -t~

estimates of migrants and remittances and policies pertaining to all the issues mentioned, as well as ascertaining the impact of emigration/refugee outflow vis-a-vis immigration/refugee inflow.

The University of Sussex's Centre for Migration Research (CMR), located at the Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty in the UK, has shown some interest recently in migration in the East African region. The CMR's Working Paper on East Africa sheds light not only on region-wide, but also country-specific analyses of migration and pro-poor issues, and on the policies and key gaps to be filled (Black et al. 2004) . Table 6.4 summarises these in the countries studied. The info rmation in the table

142


shows that GHA countries share much in common and suggests that as neighbours they should adopt common ground rules as well as strategies for handling international migration and refugees_ However, in doing so the interests of individual countries will have to remain paramount_

Table 6A Issues, policies and key gaps in international migration and refugee concerns in selected countries of the GHA region

Reg ion Long history of Include utilisation Lack of reliable es timate immigration in EAC; of remittances and of migrants and circulation in EAC; diaspora; improved remittances; lack of refugees persistent; management of understanding of both refugees remain a emig ration/ refugees the significance and menace; formal and and immigration/return impact of immigration; informal remittance refugees necessity of policies systems exist; grow ing on refugees and IDPs; attention to conversion addressing return of brain drain into migration and refugees brain gain and use of diaspora

Ethiopia Work on livelihoods Ethiopian diaspora's inform migration- physical and virtual poverty relationship; participation in both brain drain and development refugee fl ows rampant; female trafficking to the Middle East

~---~-- - ·~---~-. -~··

Somalia State collapse has SFSA's involvement In the absence of a st ifled resea rch; in development and government in the emigration to the investment country, the future of North observed; migration and refugees remitta nces through is indeterminate the SFSA

Kenya Bra in d[a in increasing Negative policies Non-resettlement/ fast; hosting large toward immigration; refusal to return numbers of HOA modest return of of IDPs; failure to refugees; growing skilled migrants exploit the benefits of volume of remittances through Return of brain drain, migrant to the country Qualified African remittances and

Nationals (RQAN)

M IGRATION AND REFUGEES IN EASTERN A FRI CA

Country

Tanza nia

Uganda

Rwanda

Issues

Heavy inflow of refugees from the GLR who are voluntarily integrated; both a source and destination of human trafficking

Once a popular destination, turned source of refugees and brain drain in the 1970s- 1980s; host of refugees from GLR and Sudan; pockets of IDPs exist

Both refugees and labour emigration important in the past; inflows and outflows co-exist; establishment of the governmentsponsored Rwanda Diaspora Global Network tracking citi zens; increasing remittances noted; women's and children 's trafficking exist

Policies

Tightened ru les for asylum seekers to get refugee status; reduction of refugees' right to freedom of movement

Restriction of emigration of professionals and civil servants to contain brain drain in the 1980s; increasing remittances now factored in f iscal policy

Improved management of both immigration and emigration; government's min isterial oversight of diaspora, remittances and brain drain; drawing up new immigration and asylum law

Source: Based on information in Black et al. 2004.

Signi fica nce of migration as a livelihood strategy is ignored; prospects of enhancing Dar es Salaam's traditional role as th e hub of intellectual activities

Need for capacity-bu ilding strateg ies for migration management; strateg ies fo r harnessing the economic contribution of the diaspora

Finalisation of immigration and asylum law; improved utilisa tion of remittances; Transfer of Kn owledge and Technology of Expatriate Nationals (TOI<TEN) and 10M's Migration Ini tiative fo r Development for Africa (M IDA) suitable for the country; co llection and stocking of migration statist ics necessary; need for more research · and unders tanding trafficking and exploita tion of women and children

143

144


The h:Mture of migration and refugees in the GHA

The future of mig~ation and refugee flows in the GHA remains shrouded in uncertainty, including the current developments in the region. In the EAC, which is likely to come to encompass more GHA countries, it would appear that political solidarity, in the form of a federation of states or any other arrangement, would stimulate free migration and help to limit the refugee risk. The involvement of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD ) member states in brokering peace accords in Sudan and Somalia attests to the capability of the GHA countries in developing frameworks for managing migration among themselves.

Likely to disrupt events in the former refugee source countries - such as Sudan and Somalia - is rehabilitation of returned refugees, which may not be as smooth as presumed. The likelihood of animosity between returned refugees and nationals who never fled cannot be ruled out, nor can animosity between returned migrant workers and non-migrants. In the event of this happening, there would be new waves of emigration to destinations that cannot be accurately conjectured. Many post-conflict and post-return challenges will stand in the way of policy-makers, which will require systematic research to inform policy. For southern Sudan in particular, the 'lost generations' of refugee children, youth and adults who have missed normal life for years might result in· further migration for training, attachments and career development before such migrants return to develop the liberated region.

As the North tightens immigration regulations while making conditions unbearable for those who have already immigrated, the GHA should expect increasing volumes of return migration. The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) framework for return migration, including converting brain drain into brain gain and deploying the African diaspora in development programmes, now requires research and well-prepared national and regional activities and explicit policies that are currently lacking in the GHA. To this end, NEPAD could work closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in its Migration Initiative for Development in Africa (MIDA), which spells out maximised utilisation of the African labour currently resident overseas.

M IGRATIO N AND REFUGEES IN EASTERN A FRIC A

Conclusion

The fact that little is known about international migration in the GHA points to the need for systematic research such as that envisaged in the prospective Greater Horn of Africa Migration Project (GHAMP). Such research will engage credible research institutions, collect information from governments and their development partners as well as from the populace, develop a knowledge and information base and inform policy, gradually leading to the establishment of rational programmes and response mechanisms.

The contemporary brain drain from the GHA, and indeed other African subregions, amounts to the robbery of Africa's most needed human resource, without which the development programmes envisaged are unlikely to succeed. The African Union (AU) should enter carefully-crafted mutual agreements with the major importers of African 'brain-drain' immigrants which address the following key issues:

Compensation for the lost human resource; Organised repatriation; Enabling remittances to benefit both individual remitters and their national economies; Treatment of African migrants and their families; and Related concerns.

These concerns need to be addressed to reverse the current situation where migration remains an individual matter in which state interest prevails only when some eventuality faces the migrants.

For migration to be perceived positively as an integral part of national development, it should be factored into national development planning in all GHA countries. Every government should ha rmonise migration concerns in various ministries or departments, such as home affairs/internal security, labour, foreign affairs and other sectoral ministries most affected by emigration/immigration. Such national capacity- building is a prerequisite for the meaningful participation of GHA countries in the various trans-national organisations to which they belong - EAC, IGAD, CO MESA, NEPAD and the AU - all of which embrace migration and refugee issues.

'145

VIEWS ON M IGR ATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFR ICA

Notes

These centres have been established at Moi University in Kenya, Makerere University

in Uganda and Dares Salaam University in Tanzania. They work exclusively on

forced migration, though they have yet to make an impact as research outfits.

2 The African Population and Environment Institute is already discussing with some

donors the possibility of the Greater Horn of Africa Migration Project ( GHAMP)

along simi lar lines as the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) . GHAMP wi ll

focus on region-wide and country-specific concerns.

References

Adepoju A (1990) Migration and development: A comparative analysis of Western Africa

and Eastern Africa. Paper presented at the Conference on the Changing Migration

"Flows in Eastern and Southern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, 26-28 February

Black R, Hilker LM & Pooley C (2004) Migration and pro-poor policy in East Africa.

Working Paper C7, Development Research Centre on Migration and Poverty, Sussex

Crisp J (1999) 'Who has counted refugees?' UNHCR and the politics of numbers.

Working Paper No. 12, Policy and Research Unit, UNHCR, Geneva

Oucho JO (1993) Towards migration research networking in Eastern-Southern Africa

Sub-regions, International Migration 31 ( 4): 625-645 " .....

Otunnu 0 (1999) Rwandese refugees and immigrants in Uganda. In Adelman H & A

Suhrke (Eds.) The path of a genocide: The Rwanda crisis from Uganda to Zaire. New

Brunswick, USA: Transactio n Publishers

Oucho JO (2003) From drain to gain: Labour migration, remittances and development.

In IOM (Eel.) World migration 2003. Geneva: IOM

Republic of Uganda ( 1995) The 1991 population and housing census, Vol.J: Demographic

characteristics. Entebbe: Statistics Department, Ministry of Finance and Economic

Planning

Sl1inn DH (2002) Ethiopia: Coping with Islamic fundamentalism before and after

September 11, Africa Notes 7, February

UN (United Nations) (2002) World population prospects: 2002 Revision. New York:

Department oflnternational Social and Economic Policy Analysis

USCR (US Committee for Refugees) (1996) 1996 World refugee survey. Washington, DC:

USCR


WCC (World Council of Churches) ( 1996) A moment to choose: Risking with uprooted

people. Unit IV: Sharing and Service, Refugee and Migration Service. Geneva: WCC

Zlotnik H (2004) International migration in Africa: An analysis based on the migration

stock. Washington DC: Migration Policy Institute. Available at http://wviw.migration.

org/Featureprintcfm?ID=252

147

I. t i [:·,

148

CHAPTER 7

A ruew ~Challenge for the international community: Internally d isplaced people !n ithe Great lai<es Region

Franck l<am unga Ci bangu

Socio-political and environmental realities have emerged in recent years as major causes of migration, particularly in the war-torn and conflict-ridden west, central and east African regions. In the past few years Africa has witn~ssed a rapid growth in the size of both intra-national and international migration as a result of both man-made and natural disasters. There is hardly a single sub-Saharan country that does not play host to some refugees from ano ther African country. Other countries have large numbers of refugees on the one hand and their own internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the other. Migration in conflict-ridden regions is more about internal displacement and refugees leaving the country and to a lesser extent return migration since very few countries in conflict receive immigrants. However, other migrant categories falling outside the refugee and IDPs categories - such as labour migrants, economic refugees (from the ranks of professionals down to lay persons) and trafficked persons- also originate from these regions.

The prime focus of this chapter is involuntary migration, specifically in relation to war, conflict and political unrest as well as displacement due to natural disasters. In so doing, it restricts its focus to forced migration thereby excluding economically motivated migratio11,:_Although I concede that there is a thin line between forced and voluntary migration in all contexts, and more so in areas bedevilled with conflict, I still adopt this dichotomy for purposes of pertinence of focus. In my discussion of migration in relation to natural disasters I pay particular attention to the Nyiragongo volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]). The major objective here is not only to depart

from the traditional perimeters of migration discussions, but also to provoke interest in the analysis of the impact of forced migration, specifically upon the lives of those who involuntarily undertake it. As such, the major discussion shall focus on refugees and IDPs in Africa in general with a specific focus on the DRC and the Great Lakes Region (GLR). In the analysis of the impact or consequences of migration, this chapter shall address various institutions and how they are able or unable to respond to the plight of conflict victims. This is done so that attention can be drawn to policy and how much it excludes or includes marginalised groups. My ultimate purpose is to stimulate rethinking of policy issues in this regard.

Conflict-induced migration in Central Africa and !Eastt Africa

Conflict brewed in central African countries silCh as DRC, Burundi and Rwanda from the late 1950s until it exploded beyond imagination in the 1990s. This resulted in the displacement of millions, who ended up as refugees in other countries or as IDPs. The experiences of IDPs at the destination site are slightly diffe rent from those ; f refugees. For this reason this chapter considers the differences between the plight of IDPs on the one hand and refugees on the other, even though they may live side by side, as is the case in the DRC where IDPs live next to refugees from Rwanda and the Central African Republic. The view of this chapter is that the category of victimhood, which in itself goes with a number of benefits, appears to be a preserve of refugees with very little attention going the way of IDPs.

Currently there are more IDPs in Africa than there are refugees and most of them are migrating within harsh socio-economic, environmental and political contexts. One major challenge they face is ethnic and identity hostility, especially when they move away from their ethnic group's geographical territories. Ethnic hostilities, which sometimes manifest in institutionalised ill treatment, give rise to further migration and this has the potential to create a vicious circle.

Challenges faced by IDPs

The term IDPs refers to all people who, due to persecution, armed conflict, acts of violence or natural disasters, fear imminent danger and feel obliged to

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abandon their homes and places of normal residence and move to places with apparent potential security that are still within their country. The fact that IDPs do not cross national borders proves to be a huge disadvantage to them, for it deprives them of the protection, attention and aid that are accorded to refugees but not to IDPs, even when both are in the same situation. This is fundamentally so because most humanitarian groups do not have the mandate to enter war zones and give assistance to indigenous nationals in need. The weak position of humanitarian groups is exacerbated by the weak states in Africa, which arenot able to offer protection to these institutions, and more so, have no faith in their disinterestedness in the war. States need to retain their sovereignty, which in itself begs for non-interference in their internal affairs, and humanitarian groups respect this position, which makes it difficult for IDPs to receive the assistance that should go to victims of conflict.

However the main problem lies with the limited power given to universal bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and its sub-units such as the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which may not legitimately respond at a humanitarian level to the plight of IDPs. The ideal scenario would see the setting up of a universal body with regional divisions having responsibility for the question of displaced persons (migrations) wherever they find themselves throughout the world. For instance, the UN in collaboration with the African Union (AU) would set up such a body with a specific mandate permitting it in all circumstances to operate in strict neutrality within war contexts, much as the UNHCR currently [·unctions outside such environments.

~esponses to the piight of refugees: a focus on the UNHCR

Refugees the world over are primarily assisted by the UNHCR through the provision of shelter, food, medicines and an environment conducive for psychological and intellectual development. In so doing the commission helps not only the refugees but also protects the host country from potential problems such as environmental degradation, overcrowding, food shortages, the spread of diseases and a rise in crime which would result if refugees were left to fend for themselves in unfamiliar foreign territories. This intervention also reduces the desperation of refugees, thereby protecting them from

~--------------------------------------------~

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION

potential exploitation at the hands of those who seek to traffic sex workers and cheap labour. However, limited funds do not allow it to provide enough to make the stay of refugees comfortable. It is important to note that the UNHCR also l:elps refug~es and asylum seekers to get documents that legitimate their stay m destmatwn countries and offers protection to refugees· from fellow ref·ugees or pursuers from their countries of origin. After the return of peace the UNCHR assists in repatriation.

Funding is the major challenge faced by the UNHCR, since it is almost entirely finan~ed _by the voluntary contributions of states and non-governmental org_ams_atwn~. It receives only 2 per cent of its total budget from the UN, whJCh IS easily swallowed by administrative expenses. The purely voluntary charac_ter of these contributions places it in a situation of uncertainty regardmg the availability of funds.

Migration and IDPs: protection .cmd exposure

!his section seeks to establish an inventory of various international judicial mstruments that could potentially protect IDPs, and to reveal their weaknesses to ~ein~or~e my_ argument that there are categories of forced migrants in need of mstltutw_nal_Ised specific protection who are not getting it currently. This state of affairs IS to the detriment of the whole continent of Africa and other parts of th~ :vorld deali~g with conflict, for it entrenches suffering to the extent that It Impedes qmck recovery after the war.

Althou?h there are no specific conventions that enunciate the legitimacy of protectmg IDPs, the following do so by implication: 'i'

The Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man; The Convention against Torture in all its forms, as well as cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment;

The International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Punishment with respect to Women; The Convention on the Rights of the Child; The International Convention on the Prptection of Migrant Workers and their Families; and

The African Charter on the Rights of Man and of People.

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In principle all these conventions, each in its own way, concern the protection of displaced persons and are for immediate application in all circumstances. if applied they would ameliorate the suffering of IDPs; however, the absence of active institutions that ensure the observation of these stipulations nullifies their essence in a significant way. An example is the provisions of the African Charter on the Rights of Man, which are intended to safeguard African values with regard to the protection of the family. Also relevant here is the reference to the rights as well as the duties of man and the affirmation of the rights of peoples besides those of the individual. The context within which the migrant IDP finds herself negates these as well as the supposed integration of the African individual with the community since displacement draws families and communities asunder.

The 4th Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 is the other instrument relating to the protection of civilians in times of war. This is applied through the actions of states, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the League of the Society of the Red Cross, the national Societies of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. This convention states clearly that civilians who are displaced internally are protected before and after their displacement by all the regulations protecting civilians in a situation of armed conflict. Articles 13, 14 and 17 specifically explain the protection of persons displaced internally in their country.

Our pre-occupation with IDPs is inspired by the fact that Africa has a huge IDPs populatiQn. Numerous countries in east, central and west Africa are politically unstable and numerous others are involved in conflict or war in one form or another, leading to large numbers of IDPs.

Migration in the Great lakes Region

Historically, large-scale forced migration in this region began with colonisation. Masses of people were resettled in various territories for agricultural and pastoral reasons, especially in the Congo (now DRC). Some populations were moved frorn Rwanda and resettled in the Congo where they remained and were naturalised upon the attainment of independence. However, the greatest movement in the region followed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which was followed by two recent wars in the DRC, one of which was regarded as a war of libera tion (led by the late President Laurent Desire Kabila in 1997), while the other (in 1998) was said to be a war of aggression.

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN THE GREAT LAKE S REGION

The two Congolese wars resulted in massive displacement, exposure and vulnerability. For instance, some displaced people from Manyema, North Kivu, and Equator were left without food or shelter. Temporary shelter settlements to reduce suffering had to be provided by voluntary aid workers in Kinshasa, Nganda Mossolo and in Kinkole. Despite these efforts, more than 3 million people have died since the 1998 war, the heaviest death toll in the world since World Vl/ar II, and most of the dead were civilians.

Tens of thousands of women were abused or violated. Innumerable acts of torture were committed. Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the conflict abandoned their homes to go to neighbouring countries or to other regions of their own countries. A number of them died, largely because it was impossible for them to receive any humanitarian aiel. Up to 2 million people have been displaced in the interior of the DRC, of whom 400 000 are children.

The migration situation on the ground: a focus on the DRC

As late as November 2004, DRC still experienced significant flows of IDPs, mostly in the eastern provinces in places such as South Kivu, North Kivu, Katanga and Maniema. These flows were caused by continued sporadic smallscale but dangerous military activities that took place within communities.

Although the war in the DRC was considered over following peace agreements, peace did not return to all places. In Katanga province, for instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (Forces armees de Ia RDC [FARDC]) continued to launch military offensives against the Mayi-Mayi militia, especially in the territories of Pweto, Mitwaba, Malemba, Nkulu and Bulcama. In response to these attacks, the militia directed its retaliation at unarmed civilians, accusing them of collaborating with the national army. This situation unleashed waves of population movement - so much so that at the beginning of November 2004, at Dubie and Pweto, there were 2 565 registered IDPs, and at Kayumba and Kilumbe, there were 6 000 and 3 000

respectively.

Similarly, in places such as North Kivu, Tanganyika, Ituri and South Kivu, armed conflicts continued to push people away from their homes. North Kivu had 3 476 registered new IDPs, while Tanganyika and Ituri had approximately


39 151 and 10 000 respectively. Continued military operations of the FARDC, the Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mayi-Mayi in South Kivu made it difficult to arrive at approximate figures of IDPs, the more so because there were new displacements taking place on a daily basis. In northern Kivu, displaced persons from Kasuo headed for Kitsombiro, while those from Kanybayonga, Butulundula and Kilambo gathered within these territories. In the district of Tanganyika, flows emanated from areas lying between Katombe and Kilambo, moving towards Dubie, Mapiana and Ngwena Gare. Some IDPs in this district are scattered around Lukonzola and the islets around Lake Upemba. In Ituri, they migrated from Nioka-Ngtote towards Kpandroma, Yambi and Bankoko while some are found around Kagaba and Komanda.

Desperation caused some IDPs and refugees to return to conflict zones where they lmow how to seek food, shelter, medicines and other basic needs. At Marabo and Nyakunde in Ituri about 2 175 returnees were identified. Like most of the IDPs scattered around the DRC, they fell victim to harsh, unhealthy life-threatening conditions following their displacement because there was no humanitarian intervention. Some returnees who had fled to foreign countries found themselves in foreign territories in their own country where they were not well received, as was experienced by 1 600 former refugees who were returning from Rwanda and went into the territory of the Masisi in North Kivu. Some refugees in South Kivu, returning from Tanzania, went straight to their original territories only to find their small pieces of land or houses already occupied by local authorities. In response to their new plight, they settled in the service centres and this raised fears of overpopulation and other problems that accompany acute shortages of infrastructure, services and food. An epidemiological bulletin for the month of November 2004 reported a rise in TB cases and an outbreak of cholera in Baraka and surrounding areas, in South-Kivu, Maniema, Katanga (Kalemie), and in Ituri, with several cases of death registered. Even dependants of the military, lodged in public buildings in deplorably unsanitary conditions at Abalo, in the district of Tanganyika and at Kal_emie, were falling victim to ill health. Insufficient drinking water and poor hygiene affected towns, contributing to the propagation of epidemics. In North Kivu, for example, only nine households out of 100 possessed latrines while only two sources of domestic water served all the inhabitants of the community. Being unable to obtain water, the majority of the population

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION

consumed untreated water from the rivers . This explains the repeated epidemics of cholera and gastro-enteritis. In the Eastern Province and in North-Kivu, the Organisation Mondiale de la Sante (OMS) reported a case of measles and meningitis followed by death. Some cases of meningitis have also been reported at Kindu in Maniema, Mongwalu, Ituri, and Goma in North Kivu and at Kisangani in the eastern province.

Of all the diseases that affected these migrant populations, malaria killed the highest number of people and has already affected the population of all the provinces of the DRC. Sexual violence is also a major issue in all provinces of the country with some of the victims children aged between 3 and 11. One of the most gruesome sexual violations occurred at Lubero in North Kivu ·where 17 women were reportedly raped and killed by FDLR military personneL AU this information does not take into account the realities obtaining in war zones, which are difficult to access. However reports of arson, kidnapping, theft and pillaging in Manono, Butembo and Ituri have filtered through. In Aru such violations were reportedly perpetrated by LRA rebels who crossed over from Uganda. Nature (diseases as already noted, or environmentallyrelated natural occurrences) also aggravated the suffering of victims of war and conflict located in the DRC. For instance, in November 2004 heavy rain caused floods at Bukavu in the com;nune of Ibanda in Ituri, leaving several families without shelter. At Bur hale in the territory ofWalungu in South Kivu, floods also destroyed about 100 houses and hail destroyed several hectares of cultivated land, threatening food security in this locality. At Kongolo in the district of Tanganyika, more than 200 houses were also destroyed by floods and victims were left in a desperate state.

In South-Kivu, localities situated along the littoral in the area of Bm·akaKizimia faced famine in 2004/05 caused on the one hand by natural conditions and on the other by theft of the early harvests by the military. In the Eastern Province, notably in the zones of Bondo and Ango, migratory locusts destroyed large areas of plantations. The cultivation of rice was hugely affected with a loss of at least 70 per cent of the crop.

This section has attempted to illustrate the plight of IDPs and refugees who migrate involuntarily as a consequence of life-threatening experiences at places of origin. It is evident that their predicament is exacerbated by threats and neglect, lack of institutional support, the inability of weak states to intervene and by the vagaries of nature.

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HLIJm.anitarian responses and the potential for retum migration

Towards the end of 2004, humanitarian responses to the plight of IDPs and ref-ugees began to gather momentum. Aid workers began to give urgent assistance to victims of epidemics, which included the provision of care and shelter, the administration of medicines and the distribution of food. Humanitarian communities and local authorities increased their fundraising activities in Kinshasa and in the provinces, accruing enough funds to operate meaningfully within an environment characterised by limited financial support for humanitarian undertakings. Local communities also took the initiative in identifying and organising where interventions were needed in terms of the provision of food, non-food goods, and health-related goods and services.

Awareness campaigns began to take shape, aimed at bringing to light the magnitude of suffering being experienced by the Congolese people. Through these campaigns victims were also informed where and how they could access legal assistance in pursuit of redress and justice. Various positive actions were taken to assist in reconstruction and rekindle hope among the population. At South-Kivu, a house was constructed to give refuge to victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence. In Kindu in 2004, a school began offering extra tuition to young people who had missed formal education due to the war, ai1d young mothers began receiving training in sewing and agricultural work in the community. In the villages of Mpala, Mwele, Kiluya and Kisobo in Katanga, schools reopened with the support of the local community which supplied materials for reconstruction. In South IGvu, Fizi and Baraka, the construction of houses for vulnerable families began simultaneously with the training of teachers within the framework of accelerated apprenticeships.

Natural disasters as causes of migration

Life-threatening environmental changes result in out-migration as populations are forced to leave their homes to save their lives. The recurrence of drought and famine, for instance, forces people to migrate in search of places with better !if~ chances. Such migrants may acquire resources and return or emigrate permanently, depending on how they respond to various other

···· ················· ·· ·· ·· ···················· ····· ···· ······················ LNmNML' oLseCAno ewnc LN THE G"" Lms • wo N j1

factors they encounter. Natural disasters such as floods and volcanoes also lead to migration, which could easily be categorised as displacement since for many it occurs without prior preparation and leaves them homeless and exposed to the elements.

The DRC has experienced many such natural disasters- the most dramatic of all was the Nyiragongo volcano that erupted on 17 January 2005. One of the great volcanoes in the Virunga volcano chain, situated in the western branch of the east African Rift Valley, emptied lava onto surrounding areas, causing huge population displacements. This disaster was preceded by another volcanic eruption at Niragongo on 10 January 1977, which claimed many victims (estimates vary between 500 and 2 000 dead). Many more were displaced. In 1994, another lava flow killed 46 people in the area around Goma and Lake Kivu. In addition to the death toll, the volcanoes along the Rift fault have also been a major cause of population displacement historically.

Conclusion

Clearly there is a need for an organisation to collate information on African migration in general and on displaced persons in particular. This organisation will have to observe the basic principles of non-repression, nondiscrimination, freedom of religion, and the right to legal justice for all IDPs in all regions of Africa. It will have to lobby for political support, collaborate with other stakeholders and institutions already providing humanitarian assistance in different parts of Africa, and motivate all stakeholders to support the protection of IDPs. More attention should be paid to understanding the plight of IDPs and to formulating and implementing ways and means to ameliorate their suffering. It is recommended that the UN set up a High Commissioner's office specifically for IDPs, which could draw support from all nations and warring parties.

The AU, on the other hand, should create a body responsible for reacting to the massive displacements of populations on the continent. Voting for an African charter on the rights of displaced persons would give African states an opportunity to renew their commitment to humanitarian rights, respect for cultural diversity and tolerance.

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This chapter concludes that migration in the GLR is caused more by conflict, 1.Var and natural disasters than by the voluntary needs of the rural population to migrate towards the urban zones as is the situation in other parts of the world. IDPs and refugees who migrate under these conditions live in difficult circumstances and are in need of external intervention to address their plight.

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