Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Tanzania

Militamen raping refugee women

[Senegal] Illegal Senegalese immigrants were rapatriated to Dakar from the Oujda-Angad Airport for Dakar on board a 737 Boeing of the Royal Air Maroc "RAM". Pierre Holtz/IRIN
Hundreds of illegal migrants from Senegal were repatriated last year
    COTONOU

    Armed militias are raping refugee women in northern Tanzania, very often in front of their husbands and children, Refugees International said following a visit to the camps.

    It said one in four women had been the victims of either rape or extreme sexual harassment. "Women are at risk from sexual predators each step of the flight from their homes to the refugee camps," the report stated. "The risk continues during the arduous trek to Tanzania as refugees spend weeks walking in circuitous routes to avoid militias and landmines."

    The report also warned that many young men, who themselves had frequently been brutalised as children, were susceptible to recruitment by armed gangs and militias. A campaign run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - the Gender Violence Programme - has had some success in protecting women, the report said. Its most important progress has been the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators of sexual assault.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join