Introduction

Abstract

The introduction analyzes historical scholarship on refugees as well as the African Great Lakes region. Although historians are paying greater attention to refugee histories in Africa, there is still much to learn about how aid to refugees figured in identity politics during and after decolonization. The introduction lays out the book's methodology, which combines extensive oral interviews with residents of host communities in Ngara district and archival research in Tanzanian, British, and humanitarian archives. It includes an analysis of the colonial origins of refugee aid and the pivotal role that humanitarian aid to refugees played during decolonization—itself a refugee-generating project. It also details the connections between Ngarans and Rwandans: culturally, politically, and economically. The introduction closes with an outline of the book's parts.