A Dissertation Submitted to the Mzumbe University Dar es Salaam Campus College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Leadership and Management (MLM) of Mzumbe University
The study based on an assessment of the protection challenges facing refugees in urban areas in Tanzania through a case study of Dar Es Salaam city aimed to determine the protection challenges encountered by urban refugees; to examine the socio-geographical motivation factors for urban refugee settlement in Dar es Salaam city, and to determine urban refugees’ adapting mechanisms in addressing the protection challenges in Dar es Salaam city.
The study applied both quantitative and qualitative case study design with 50 informants sampled through non-probability sampling. The study used a variety of data collection methods, called "mixed methodology" or the "methodological triangulation" technique. Sophisticated data were taken into IBM SPSS statistics version and calculated as a percentage and presented in tables, charts and diagrams for easy visualization and interpretation.
The findings revealed that Dar es Salaam city refugees face a number of protective challenges, including the continued and bureaucratic acquisition of a refugee legal identity, a residence permit, a work permit, the absence of UNHCR assistance, all of which generate an environment of vulnerability and insecurity for urban refugees.
In all, due to a number of protection challenges including lengthening and bureaucracy in obtaining refugee legal identities, residence, work permit, absence of UNHCR assistance, all of which generate an environment of vulnerability and insecurity for urban refugees. Their vulnerability includes uncertainty and lack of access to formal jobs, resulting in low paid and unstable income, poor access to public services such as health care, education and security services, which put urban refugees in the vicious circle of poverty and debt.
Government rights tools such as immigration authorities, police officers and city officials must act harmoniously to ensure that Tanzania's urban refugee populations are mapped and controlled by their participatory assessment rules to better assess their requirements, include them in program goals and represent them in budget requirements.