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2015 UNHCR subregional operations profile - Central Africa and the Great Lakes

| Overview |

UNHCR 2015 Central Africa and the Great Lakes subregional operations map

Many Governments in the Central Africa and Great Lakes subregion have made great strides towards socio-economic development and institutional stability, both at national level, as well as in efforts towards subregional integration. However, this progress has been negatively affected by internal conflict and violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nigeria. These situations have had dire humanitarian consequences within the countries concerned, and have also had a significant impact on neighbouring countries. Instability and violence continue to cause internal and external displacement, hindering humanitarian access and increasing the cost of operations.

The operational environment in the region in 2015 will continue to be marked by the situation in the CAR and its impact on neighbouring countries, as well as by the ongoing instability in the eastern DRC and in Nigeria. UNHCR's planning figures for 2015 estimate that by the end of 2015, there will be some 5.1 million refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people (IDPs) of concern to the Office in the subregion, with assistance being planned for some 3.7 million.

In the CAR, the escalation of conflict since December 2013 has left some 930,000 people internally displaced during 2014, while another 135,000 Central Africans have sought refuge in Cameroon, 22,000 in the DRC, 20,000 in Chad and some 10,000 in the Congo. The overall numbers of refugees from the CAR in these countries, including old caseloads, now stand at some 427,200. The situation in the CAR has also forced the flight of tens of thousands of third country nationals, mainly from Chad and Cameroon. the situation of the Chadian nationals in particular has posed a humanitarian problem since most of them had been settled in the CAR for many years and are second or third-generation Chadians with few, if any, links to their country of nationality.

In the eastern part of the DRC, the security situation still remains volatile and unpredictable, hampering humanitarian activities and preventing the return of some 429,000 DRC refugees currently living mainly in Burundi, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania) and Uganda. Over 2.6 million people are internally displaced in the DRC.

Following the conflict in the north-east of Nigeria between government forces and non-state actors, UNHCR has so far registered over 36,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon, bringing the total number of refugees in Cameroon to over 278,000. Along the border with Nigeria, there remain high risks of incursions into Cameroon, violence, robbery or kidnapping by Nigerian insurgents operating in the federal States of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno. Nigerian refugees have also fled to Niger and Chad.

Following the repatriation by June 2014 of some 119,000 of the DRC refugees who had fled from Equateur Province to the Congo in 2009-2010, the Congo still hosts some 23,200 DRC refugees, in addition to over 10,000 new arrivals from the CAR.

Refugees from the DRC are also present in significant numbers in Burundi (57,700) Rwanda (74,000) and in Tanzania (55,400). Smaller groups can also be found across the African continent, notably in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

The achievements of MONUSCO's Rapid Intervention Brigade in eastern DRC, resulting in the dismantling of one of the major insurgent groups, have led to more encouraging prospects of stabilization of the security situation. These operations are to be extended to target other groups and will potentially create conditions for the return of DRC refugees from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The deployment of the MINUSCA force in the CAR is expected to help improve the protection of populations and strengthen national institutions, leading to an eventual presidential election. However, the situation remains unpredictable for 2015.

Despite this complex context, Governments in the subregion have continued to show a positive attitude towards the institution of asylum and respect for refugee law and principles.

While endeavouring to ensure that refugee rights are upheld, particularly those of people with specific needs including women, children and the elderly, and providing refugees with life-saving assistance, UNHCR's strategies for the subregion will continue to focus on the search for durable solutions, primarily voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, as well as local integration and resettlement.

Durable solutions will be sought in particular for DRC refugees in Burundi, the CAR, the Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania; for Angolan refugees in the Congo, and the DRC; for Burundian refugees in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda; and for Rwandan refugees in Burundi, the Congo and the DRC. The enhanced resettlement of Congolese refugees out of the Great Lakes will continue, as part of a comprehensive solutions strategy in Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda: at least 50,000 refugees are targeted for resettlement between 2012 and 2017. In September 2014, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania announced the resumption of the issuance of naturalization certificates to the Newly Naturalized Tanzanians (NNTs) - former Burundian refugees. Following this very welcome development, projects aimed at completing and supporting the local integration of the NNTs will be planned and implemented jointly with the Tanzanian Government to ensure a responsible and orderly phase-out, making sure they can enjoy all rights of citizenship.

Returnees from countries of asylum will benefit from UNHCR's protection monitoring and reintegration support. In the CAR and the DRC, IDPs will be assisted through established cluster mechanisms.

UNHCR will also endeavour to prevent statelessness for populations at risk, advocate for the issuance of birth certificates and support civil registration. UNHCR will advocate for further accessions to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on Statelessness and to the Kampala Convention on IDPs.

| Response and implementation |

  • The situations in the CAR and Nigeria will continue to require some emergency responses to ensure delivery of basic services to refugees in the subregion; however, it is anticipated that refugee operations related to the CAR crisis will start to stabilize in Cameroon, Chad, the Congo and the DRC.

  • UNHCR and partners will work to meet refugees' basic needs in terms of health care, shelter, water, sanitation and education. Depending on various factors such as access and government policies, both camp and non-camp-based approaches will be used for the delivery of assistance, and community projects will be designed to benefit both refugees and local host populations.

  • In close coordination with the Governments concerned, UNHCR will seek to integrate assistance activities into national services (e.g. education and health care in Rwanda). UNHCR will make particular efforts to ensure the provision of sanitary materials to women. Livelihoods activities will be pursued to promote refugee self-reliance, especially in protracted situations, including for returnees and IDPs.

  • UNHCR's protection will aim at preserving the principle of non-refoulement and access to asylum. Community protection strategies will be translated into programmes targeting the priorities of children and addressing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The Office will work with established networks to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and implement its policy of zero tolerance. It will also engage in close cooperation with the authorities to ensure respect for the civilian character of asylum, in particular in conflict areas.

  • To facilitate voluntary repatriation and local integration, UNHCR will continue to work with the Governments in the region through tripartite mechanisms. The involvement and support of development actors will be sought to sustain the return of refugees (e.g. to the DRC and Rwanda) and IDPs (e.g. in Burundi and the DRC).

  • To pursue the reintegration of returnees, UNHCR, in coordination with One UN and respective government authorities, will aim to address the most immediate needs and promote peaceful cohabitation with local communities (e.g. in the DRC and Rwanda).

  • In the CAR and the DRC, UNHCR will continue to lead the protection cluster for IDPs in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental partners. The community-based protection strategy focuses on assuring the safety and providing life-saving assistance to beneficiaries. Ultimately, UNHCR's goal is to ensure that IDPs enjoy fundamental rights, have access to essential services while durable solutions are sought. UNHCR will continue to advocate for the accession of more countries in the subregion to the Kampala Convention on IDPs.

  • To prevent and reduce the risk of statelessness, UNHCR will promote the issuance of birth certificates to refugee children and populations at risk, and will advocate for further accessions to the Statelessness Conventions.

  • In urban situations, UNHCR will implement its Policy on Urban Refugees through civil society groups promoting community based protection, and fostering self-reliance. Independent legal refugee aid clinics will be supported.

  • For the major refugee crises in the subregion, The Office will continue to provide leadership with a regional perspective, given the number of countries impacted by these situations. UNHCR's Regional Refugee Coordinators will continue to provide a coordination platform for all concerned agencies, not only for improving services, but also in searching for solutions and ensuring coherence of strategies.

Operations in the Central African Republic, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania with budgets of USD 25 million and more are presented in separate country chapters. For other countries where UNHCR operates in the subregion, please see below.

Burundi continues to be affected by the overall insecurity in the region, and in particular the instability prevailing in the Kivu provinces of the DRC. Plans for 2015 anticipate that Burundi will be hosting over 62,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from the DRC, as well as close to 80,000 IDPs.

It is anticipated that the Government will maintain its hospitality and provide protection for refugees in the country, as well as working in partnership with UNHCR and other organizations to assure basic services for refugees. Enhancing livelihood activities will be at the centre of UNHCR's strategy to promote self-reliance. Assistance will be extended to some 7,000 Burundians expected to return home by the end of 2015 mainly from the DRC and Uganda.

After UNHCR's office in Gabon was closed in January 2013, a small presence has been maintained in the country under the oversight of UNHCR's Regional Office in Kinshasa. As of 30 June 2014, Gabon was hosting just over 1,000 refugees and 1,860 asylum-seekers, mostly from the CAR, Chad, the Congo and the DRC.

UNHCR will support the Government in restructuring the refugee status determination procedure and will advocate for the extension to refugees of the mandatory health and social security insurance scheme.

Durable solutions will be pursued, including the implementation of the comprehensive strategy for refugees from Angola, the Congo, Liberia and Rwanda.

| Financial information |

Confronted with several major internal displacement and refugee crises within and from the CAR, the DRC and Nigeria during the year, in 2014 UNHCR launched two supplementary appeals for the CAR and Nigeria emergency situations respectively.

For 2015, financial requirements for the subregion are set at almost USD 461.5 million, with more than half of the budget allocated to the refugee programme. Should there be further significant displacement affecting countries in the subregion, any additional requirements not covered under this budget for 2015 will be presented subsequently.

UNHCR 2015 budgets for Central Africa and the Great Lakes (USD)
Operation 2014
Revised budget
(as of 30 June 2014)
2015
Refugee
programme
PILLAR 1
Stateless
programme
PILLAR 2
Reintegration
projects
PILLAR 3
IDP
projects
PILLAR 4
Total
Total 494,378,430 288,531,538 3,730,164 53,283,535 115,909,567 461,454,804
1. Includes activities in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Burundi 25,098,771 18,676,158 189,402 0 523,504 19,389,064
Cameroon 54,123,629 53,920,679 843,987 0 0 54,764,667
Central African Republic 72,995,171 11,204,357 0 0 40,211,532 51,415,889
Congo 35,144,967 35,341,593 0 0 0 35,341,593
Democratic Republic of the Congo Regional Office[1] 216,361,233 99,881,583 2,696,775 38,546,652 75,174,531 216,299,541
Rwanda 51,859,332 43,089,569 0 80,776 0 43,170,345
United Republic of Tanzania 38,795,327 26,417,598 0 14,656,106 0 41,073,705

Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2015 Update

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Statistical Snapshot*
* As at December 2014
  1. Country or territory of asylum or residence.
  2. Persons recognized as refugees under the 1951 UN Convention/1967 Protocol, the 1969 OAU Convention, in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, persons granted a complementary form of protection and those granted temporary protection. It also includes persons in a refugee-like situation for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained. In the absence of Government figures, UNHCR has estimated the refugee population in many industrialized countries based on 10 years of individual asylum-seeker recognition.
  3. Persons whose applications for asylum or refugee status are pending at the end of 2014 at any stage in the asylum procedure.
  4. Refugees who have returned to their place of origin during 2014. Source: country of origin and asylum.
  5. Persons who are displaced within their country and to whom UNHCR extends protection and assistance. It also includes people in IDP-like situations. This category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who are inside their country of nationality or habitual residence and who face protection risks similar to those of IDPs but who, for practical or other reasons, could not be reported as such.
  6. IDPs protected/assisted by UNHCR who have returned to their place of origin during 2014.
  7. Refers to persons who are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law. This category refers to persons who fall under the agency's statelessness mandate because they are stateless according to this international definition, but data from some countries may also include persons with undetermined nationality.
  8. Refers to individuals who do not necessarily fall directly into any of the other groups but to whom UNHCR may extend its protection and/or assistance services. These activities might be based on humanitarian or other special grounds.
The data are generally provided by Governments, based on their own definitions and methods of data collection.
A dash (-) indicates that the value is zero, not available or not applicable.

Source: UNHCR/Governments.
Compiled by: UNHCR, FICSS.
Residing in Burundi [1]
Refugees [2] 52,936
Asylum Seekers [3] 3,051
Returned Refugees [4] 1,350
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) [5] 78,948
Returned IDPs [6] 0
Stateless Persons [7] 1,302
Various [8] 524
Total Population of Concern 138,111
Originating from Burundi [1]
Refugees [2] 72,499
Asylum Seekers [3] 19,371
Returned Refugees [4] 1,350
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) [5] 78,948
Returned IDPs [6] 0
Various [8] 162,901
Total Population of Concern 335,069
Government Contributions to UNHCR
Contributions since 2000
YearUSD
2014 0
2013 0
2012 0
2011 0
2010 0
2009 778
2008 0
2007 1,086
2006 1,210
2005 351
2004 0
2003 0
2002 0
2001 0
2000 0

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The Nansen Refugee Award 2005

Burundian humanitarian worker Maggy Barankitse received the 2005 Nansen Refugee Award for her tireless work on behalf of children affected by war, poverty and disease. The Nansen medal was presented at a grand ceremony in Brussels by H.R.H. Princess Mathilde of Belgium and UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Wendy Chamberlin.

Accepting the award, Barankitse said her work was inspired by one single goal: peace. "Accept your fellow man, sit down together, make this world a world of brothers and sisters," she said. "Nothing resists love, that's the message that I want to spread."

Sponsored by UNHCR corporate partner Microsoft, the ceremony and reception at Concert Noble was also attended by Belgium's Minister for Development Co-operation Armand De Decker, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel, renowned Burundian singer Khadja Nin, Congolese refugee and comedian Pie Tshibanda, and French singer and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Julien Clerc. Among others.

The Nansen Refugee Award 2005

A fresh start; Burundian former refugees begin a new chapter in their lives

Since the end of October more than 26,000 Burundian former refugees have been assisted by UNHCR and its partners to return home from the Mtabila camp in northwest Tanzania. The operation is organized with the Government of Tanzania to help some 35,500 Burundian former refugees go back to Burundi by the end of 2012, when the Mtabila camp officially closes.

Refugee status for most Burundians in Tanzania formally ended in August following individual interviews to assess remaining protection needs. A total of 2,715 people will continue to be hosted as refugees in Tanzania, while the rest, the last of a population of refugees who left Burundi some 20 years ago, must return home. This is not an easy move after having spent most of your life -- and sometimes all of it -- in exile.

While awaiting their turn to join one of the daily convoys to bring them home, Burundian former refugees are preparing themselves for a fresh start…

A fresh start; Burundian former refugees begin a new chapter in their lives

Photo Gallery: The Challenge of Forced Displacement in Africa

Africa is the continent most affected by the tragedy of forced displacement. While millions of refugees were able to return to Angola, Burundi, Liberia, Rwanda and South Sudan over the last 15 years, the numbers of internally displaced people continued to grow. At the beginning of 2009, in addition to some 2.3 million refugees, an estimated 11.6 million people were internally displaced by conflict in Africa.

To address forced displacement on the continent, the African Union is organizing a special summit on refugees, returnees and internally displaced people from October 19-23 in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Heads of state and government will look at the challenges and at ways to find solutions to forced displacement. They are also expected to adopt a Convention for the protection and assistance of internally displaced people (IDP) in Africa, which would be the first legally binding instrument on internal displacement with a continental scope. This photo gallery looks at some of the forcibly displaced around Africa, many of whom are helped by UNHCR.

Photo Gallery: The Challenge of Forced Displacement in Africa

Tanzania: Fleeing Burundi, Refugees Seek SafetyPlay video

Tanzania: Fleeing Burundi, Refugees Seek Safety

He used to fix broken bicycles in Burundi, but as political troubles and killings mounted Nestor Kamza decided to flee. In search of safety he and his family walked non-stop for 24-hours until they reached Tanzania.

His family is among more than 100,000 people who have fled from political violence in Burundi and arrived in the Nyarugusu camp which has almost tripled in size. To alleviate overcrowding in the camp, UNHCR and its partners have planned to open three new camps and have started moving tens of thousands of Burundian refugees to a new, less congested, home

Rwanda: Flight from BurundiPlay video

Rwanda: Flight from Burundi

In recent weeks, the number of Burundian refugees crossing into Rwanda has increased significantly. According to the Government of Rwanda, since the beginning of April, 25,004 Burundians, mostly women and children, have fled to Rwanda. Many said they had experienced intimidation and threats of violence linked to the upcoming elections.

Burundi: Finding Our PlacePlay video

Burundi: Finding Our Place

More than 75,000 Burundian refugees have returned home this year. One of the biggest challenges they face in restarting their lives is finding a place to live.