Land problems in Nakivale settlement and the implications for refugee protection in Uganda

Ugandan refugee policy is characterised by the encampment of refugees in designated and enclosed settlements in rural areas, removed from the mainstream economic and political activity of the country. Families are given small parcels of land and are expected to become progressively more self-sufficient, finally reaching a point where they no longer require food rations and other humanitarian assistance.This report focuses on the land crisis in the Nakivale refugee settlement in south-western Uganda, analysing the ways in which conflict over land has made refugee protection and self-sufficiency difficult to achieve. It draws on interviews conducted in 2002 with both refugees and Ugandan nationals.The report’s findings include that:while land given to refugees often appeared to be empty and bushy, it often turned out that it had previously been used by local pastoralists to graze their cattle, leading to resentment amongst the pastoralist communitiesUgandan agriculturalists lacked security of tenure and could be evicted at any time to provide land for refugeesrefugees were, however, seen as providing a good source of cheap labour and a market for agricultural produce; it appeared that if the land problem could be ameliorated then the tensions around the settlement would be greatly reducedethnic tensions were beginning to surface both within refugee populations (which included Rwandan Tutsis and Hutus) and between refugees and Ugandan nationalsgovernment steps such as a task force set up to investigate claims of land ownership, failed to include representatives from refugee or local communities and suggested solutions which were too simplistic and narrow to address the complex problems.In the light of these findings, the report recommends that:land redistribution should not be influenced by the aim of keeping refugees and nationals apart; refugee protection and self reliance require both good social and economic relationships between nationals and refugees, and sound refugee policies that promote free individual interaction between refugees and their hostsfuture initiatives should allow for greater involvement of refugees and nationals in resolving the current impassein the longer term, the government should consider dispersing refugees, rather than maintaining them within limited areas of the countrythe government should encourage other means of self-sufficiency for refugees that do not entirely depend on land, in order to reduce the pressure on land in areas such as Nakivale.