Paper details
| Paper authors | Yvette Ruzibiza; Simon Turner |
| In panel on | Everyday humanitarianism |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
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Abstract
Over the decades, Burundians and Congolese have crossed Lake Tanganyika to Kigoma town, seeking protection from war and violence and seeking new livelihood opportunities. Some have refugee status, others have migrant status, a few have obtained citizenship, while the majority live precarious lives without papers. When we conducted fieldwork in Kigoma to explore how Tanzanians engaged in everyday humanitarian activities towards refugees, we realized that the majority of help and refugee solidarity came from other refugees and migrants who might have settled earlier. In this paper we explore the many expressions of everyday humanitarianism that we encountered: Sometimes the help was material like when the Congolese pastor who gave food and shelter to poor Congolese. Burundian fishermen who have papers would often protect and employ Burundians arriving recently. At other times, older refugees could use their knowledge of the system to help newly arrived migrants out of prison. They could register property or business in their names. Or they would simply teach them how to move around the town without being caught. We argue that these acts of everyday humanitarianism are shaped in part by solidarity with fellow countrymen but mostly by the difficulties of trying to survive in a hostile host environment.
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