"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;

A person shall not be considered a refugee for the purposes of this Act if-
(a)he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in International instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; or
(b)he committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission in Tanzania as a refugee; or
(c)he has been guilty of any act contrary to the purposes and principles of the OAU and/or UN;
(d)he has already been granted refugee status or asylum in another country prior to his entry to Tanzania provided that a person qualifying for resettlement or family re-unification in accordance with the provisions of this Act or a person arriving from a territory where there has been a serious breach of peace, shall have his application for asylum considered;
(e)prior to his entry into Tanzania he has transited through one or more countries and is unable to show reasonable cause for failure to seek asylum in those countries, provided that a person who has transited through a country or countries where there is a serious serviced breach of peace.

Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) of this section and for the purposes of this Act a refugee is any person who:
(a)is outside the country of his nationality or if he has no nationality, the country of his former habitual residence, because he has or had a well founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality membership of a particular social group or political opinion and is unable or, because of such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of the Government of the country of his nationality, or, if he has no nationality, to return to the country of his former habitual residence;
(b)owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality;
(c)belongs to a group of persons which by notice in the Government Gazette has been declared to be refugees for the reasons set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

A person shall cease to be considered to be a refugee for the purposes of this Act if-

(a)he has voluntarily re-availed himself of the protection of the country of his nationality; or

(b)having lost his nationality he has voluntarily re-acquired it; or

(c)he has acquired a new nationality, and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality; or

(d)he has voluntarily re-established himself in the country which he left or outside which he remained owing to fear of persecution; or

(e)he can no longer because the circumstances in connection with which he was recognised as a refugee having ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail himself of the protection of the country of his nationality, or if he has no nationality the country of his former habitual residence;

(f)he has committed a serious non-political crime outside his country of refuge after his admission to that country as a refugee; or

(g)he has seriously infringed the purposes and objectives of the 1969 OAU Refugee convention governing the "Specific Aspects for Refugee Problems in Africa";

(h)he has involved himself in subversive activities whilst enjoying asylum in Tanzania

The Committee shall-
(a)have before it application forms, statements, transcripts and any additional information previously given by the applicant to the authorised officer and the UNHCR representative in Tanzania;
(b)if deemed appropriate investigate and seek all relevant information from appropriate sources within and outside the country, provided that the authorities of country of origin shall not be contacted by the Committee;
(c)be at liberty to summon the applicant before it whenever deemed necessary to clarify or answer questions pertaining his claim for refugee status and, or asylum.

(d)if deemed necessary call any other person to appear before it and may consider any other relevant or written submissions;
(e)the recommendations of the Committee shall be referred to the Minister who without delay shall decide on the recommendations and shall cause the applicant to be informed of his decision through the Director;
(f)the Director shall inform the UNHCR representative in Tanzania of the Minister's decision without delay;
(g)where refugee status has been denied the Director shall inform the asylum seeker of his right to petition for a review to the Minister within seven days in accordance with sub-section (7) of this section;
(h)in dealing with application under this section the asylum seeker may be permitted to bring along a competent interpreter if necessary.

Without prejudice to the provision of this section no person claiming to be a refugee within the meaning of section 4 shall merely for reasons of his illegal entry be declared a prohibited immigrant, detained or penalized in any other way save that any person who after entering Tanzania or who is within Tanzania fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Any person entering or who is within Tanzania, whether lawfully or otherwise and who wishes to remain in Tanzania as a refugee within the meaning of section 4 shall immediately and not later than seven days after entry, unless he can show reasonable cause for delay, present himself or report to the nearest authorised officer, village Executive Officer, or a justice of peace and apply for recognition as a refugee.

Any person dissatisfied by the decision of the Minister… may petition for a review to the Minister within seven days.

In applying for refugee status the applicant shall-
(a)immediately fill in a prescribed application form and the application shall be registered by an authorized officer within the local area of his point of entry into Tanzania. In addition to the application form, he shall be entitled to make any statement and submit evidence in support of his claim, if he so wishes;
(b)the authorised officer shall interview the applicant and reduce the interview into writing. The transcript shall be read to the applicant who may make corrections before it is signed by both the interviewing officer and the applicant. If the applicant does not wish to sign the transcript the reasons for declining shall be indicated;
(c)the authorised officer shall as soon as possible transmit the application forms and any statements, transcripts or evidence in support thereof to the Director;
(d)the Director shall upon receipt of the application submit the same before the Committee, ensure that the Committee convenes and considers the application within a period of sixty days from the time of making application, provided that the Director for reasonable cause may extend the period of sixty days;
(e)the office of the Director shall inform the UNHCR Representative in Tanzania of the presence in Tanzania of any person claiming to be a refugee and such person shall be informed of his right to contact the UNHCR office in Tanzania.

Any petition under sub-section (7) of this section shall be submitted in writing to the Minister whose decision on the matter shall be final.