Date of publication:

08/21/2025

United Republic of Tanzania (the)

Do domestic laws and policies provide for family reunification for forcibly displaced and stateless persons?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Tanzania’s domestic laws provide mechanisms for family reunification for refugees through the Refugees Act of 1998, which allows for the reunification of family members who have been separated during displacement. These provisions ensure that refugees can bring their immediate family members to join them in Tanzania, thus preserving family unity.

However, the legal framework does not include explicit provisions for the family reunification of stateless persons. While stateless individuals may benefit from the same protections afforded to refugees under international law, the domestic laws in Tanzania do not specifically address the process of family reunification for stateless persons. In practice, this gap in the legal framework means that stateless individuals may not have a clear or streamlined process for reuniting with family members, even though they may face similar challenges to refugees in terms of documentation and proving family relationships.

Without specific legal provisions, the process of family reunification for stateless persons may rely on general immigration and asylum procedures or humanitarian assistance from international organizations. While there are mechanisms for the reunification of refugees, stateless persons may not benefit from the same set of laws, and their cases could be more complex, depending on the circumstances of their statelessness and their ability to provide evidence of family ties.

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The Refugee Act

    Legal provision

    Section 3 - Interpretation

    "family" includes husband or wife or a lawfully recognised spouse, children below 18 years and any person living with the asylum seeker or refugee as a dependant;

    Section 35.4 - Family Re-union

    For the purposes of this Act, members of a family shall only include a husband or wife lawfully married and their children who are below 18 years of age and any dependent as ascribed by the Immigration Act, 1995.

    Section 35.1 - Family Re-union

    A recognised refugee resident in Tanzania who wishes to join or to be joined by any member of his family outside or within Tanzania respectively shall make application for family re-union to the Minister through the UNHCR or the Director who shall submit the application to the Committee which shall recommend to the Minister whether to allow the family re-union or not provided that such family re-union shall not take place before permission is granted under this section. Failure to abide to this provision shall be an offence under this Act.

    Section 35.2 - Family Re-union

    Any affected or aggrieved person by the decision of the Minister refusing or granting family re-union may file a petition for review to the Minister.

    Section 35.3 - Family Re-union

    Where there is disunity in the family of a refugee as a result of divorce, separation, death et cetera any member of that family may remain in Tanzania and shall have to apply within a maximum period of 2 years from the time of disunity of the family for the acquisition of the refugee status on his own right or for a legalization of the residence in Tanzania under the Immigration Act, 1995, failure of which shall be an offence under this Act provided that where such application has been made he can remain in Tanzania until the final decision of the application is made.