‘We thought we will be safe here’: Narratives of Tanzanian Albinos in Kenya and South-Africa

Abstract

There are paucity of information on the migratory trend and security challenges facing albinos seeking refuge and livelihood in neighbouring African countires. Specifically this study examines Tanzanian albinios’ migration, acceptability and security challenges in Kenya and South Africa. The study was purely qualitative in nature, involving a hundred and forty-five persons with albinism (PWA) identified in Nairobi (Kenya) and Gauteng province (South Africa). Realities, myths, folktales and legends about albinos as both disabled and divine beings prevailed in the host communities in Kenya and South Africa. Comparatively socioeconomic factors such as income and educational attainment of PWA and their family members were major factors informing choices of destination and abode. This was evident in a number of affluent albinos living in South Africa. Nevertheless, acceptability and safety continue to elude PWA as spirit beings and strangers. They are left vulnerable as strangers and at best perceived as persons without identity. Similarly the proximity of Tanzania to Kenya facilitated the choice as a major destination for PWA via land borders. The security expectations were described as poor in both countries. A network of syndicates hunting for albinos, were said to be present in Kenya and South Africa, fostering trades in albinos body parts. The study concluded that distant migration of PWA within Africa, does not guarantee the security of albinos as migrants.

Keywords: Persons with albinism, migrants, realities, myth, insecurity