5 Feb 2008


Dear Readers,

As promised, we are bringing you an update on the plight of the Luo asylum-seekers in Tanzania. Recent reports from these asylum-seekers indicate that the Tanzanian government has reneged on its promise to create a place in Arusha for Kenyan refugees. The group reports that both THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) AND THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT HAVE BOTH PUBLICLY STATED THAT THERE ARE NO KENYAN REFUGEES IN TANZANIA. They also report that the department of Immigration, which is responsible for refugees and is headed by Minister for Home Affairs Joseph Mungai,  HAS STATED THAT LUOS ARE NOT AT RISK IN KENYA. They report that their efforts have been repeatedly frustrated by Mr. J B Kabigumira, the Principal Immigration Officer, Arusha Region and by Mungai, himself a naturalized citizen of Tanzania, even though they requested refugee status when they first crossed the Kenya-Tanzania border and have since repeated this request on numerous occasions. Based on the Tanzanian government's statement that Luos are not at risk in Kenya,these asylum-seekers believe that they are being discriminated against on the basis of their Luo ethnicity.

Furthermore, because the Tanzanian government and UNHCR misled them to believe that a place was being created for them in Arusha in order to get them to leave Dar es Salaam, they no longer have faith in either the government or the UNHCR. They say that the latter agency has not done enough to help them even though, under the circumstances, it could and should grant them refugee status.

The Luo asylum-seekers worry that the Tanzanian government will attempt to deport them back to Kenya under the pretense that it is sending them to a refugee camp. (They base these fears on the fact that the camp in Arusha, promised by the government and UNHCR, never materialized.) Meanwhile, some Americans have offered to provide for these asylum-seekers so that they can be kept out of the refugee camp since the group fears that it will be subjected to mistreatment from other refugees or asylum seekers who belong to "rival" tribes or are affiliated with an opposing political party.

Jaluo Press would like to know why the Tanzanian government and the UNHCR are insisting that the members of this group in particular must stay in a refugee camp in order to attain refugee status when we have been told by other informed sources that this is not the case--that other people have successfully applied for refugee status without ever going to a refugee camp. Why put these people in any more danger? And why waste the money of Tanzanian tax payers? We would think that the Tanzanian government and the UNHCR would jump at the opportunity to save these much-needed funds...

More importantly, however, we would like to know the following:

• Why did the Tanzanian government mislead this group of Luo asylum-seekers, telling them that it had prepared a place for them in Arusha when, in fact,it had not?

• Why is the Tanzanian government denying refugee status to Luos when we know that most of those who have been killed in the post-election violene in Kenya are members of tribes that support the opposition--namely Luos and Kalenjins?

• How does the Tanzanian government explain its statement that Luos are not at risk in Kenya in light of evidence to the contrary--that is, in light of the high number of deaths in this community at the hands of the Kenyan police, Mungiki, and Kikuyus seeking "revenge"?

• Are only Kikuyus and members of other tribes that support the Kibaki government considered refugees?

• Where are Luos fleeing the post-election violence to go?

Readers, we are counting on you. It is time for us to rally around our brethren. Please call the Tanzanian department of Immigration to express your distaste for that government's discrimination against Luo asylum-seekers.

The numbers are:

Director of Immigration Services

• (255-22) 2118637

• (255-22) 2118640 

• (255-22) 2118643

You can also email the department of Immigration at uhamiaji@intafrica.com

Also, please take the time to read the stories submitted by these asylum-seekers and contained in this thread. Again, we invite Kenyans of all ethnicities to send us their own stories or those of family member's who have sought refuge in Tanzania, Uganda, or in another country. Please include your ethnicity as we are attempting to ascertain, as some readers have suggested, whether certain tribes are being treated worse by certain governments as they attempt to seek refuge from the violence in Kenya.

Regards,
Jaluo Press