Implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees in Tanzania: A Synopsis

Abstract

On 10 December 2018, the United Nations adopted the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), a soft law that draws its origin from the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants of 2016. The document inter alia is set to address the current and future global challenges facing refugee crisis worldwide. The present paper examines the tenability of this document in Tanzania. It explores the possibilities through which this compact can be implemented in the country. In so doing it explains the discourse of the compact as well as the intersection between the compact and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). While setting a situational background of protection of refugees in Tanzania, this paper finds out that, the implementation of the GCR in the country is faced by a number of challenges. These include the country’s withdrawal from the CRRF, the non-binding nature of the GCR, GCR’s incompatibility with Tanzania law, policy and practice, underfunding, GCR’s emphasis on data, limited operation of civil societies and the western nature of the compact. The paper further finds that, the new regime under H.E new President Samia Suluhu Hassan may be a prospect towards effective implementation of the GCR in Tanzania. The paper lastly, gives out recommendations geared towards the implementation of the Compact in the country.