Abstract:
The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania makes a lot of efforts to maintain
peace and security in Kasulu District taking into account the presence of refugees in the
district, but the area still faces a big challenge of insecurity. Therefore, the study was
carried out in the villages which surround the refugee camps of Mtabila and Nyarugusu in
Kasulu District to assess perceptions on the contribution of refugees to insecurity. The
specific objectives were to: (a) find the laws and regulations that are most violated by
refugees and local communities, (b) determine the extent to which refugees were involved
in insecurity acts in the area, (c) assess positive and negative influence of the presence of
refugees on security matters in the area, and (d) find ways by which insecurity affects the
wellbeing of the people in the research area.
Data were collected in October and
November 2009 and analysed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
software. The results show that the laws that were most violated by refugees were leaving
designated areas without permission, theft, being employed, and environmental damage.
About the extent to which refugees were involved in insecurity acts, t-test results showed
that the number points scored by non-Tanzanians and Tanzanians on an attitudinal scale
that was used to gauge the extent were significantly different at the 0.1% level of
significance (p = 0.000), which means that insecurity acts committed by refugees were
contributing more to impoverishing natives than those committed by natives. It was also
found that although the presence of refugees had many adverse effects including the
insecurity acts they did, as seen above, and increase in prices of food and other
commodities, it had some positive effects, which included provision of free health services
to citizens in the refugee health centres and cheap labour from refugees who did casual
labour employments. It was also found that insecurity acts committed by refugees were
affecting the well-being of natives in various ways including loss of property through
robbery by refugees, reduced time of working for fear of being attacked by refugees, and
shortage of food due to some of it being stolen on farm by refugees. From the findings of
the study it is concluded that insecurity has caused and continues to cause widespread
social and economic impacts in Kasulu District. It also constrains development efforts of
the people in the area. Based on the conclusion, it is recommended that refresher courses
on security matters are required for security guards and leaders. Moreover, international
organizations such as UNHCR and others should continue to provide services especially to
the remaining refugees in the camps so as to improve their life and reduce their insecurity
acts.
