enacted to protect the interest of refugee children. 50 In 2003 the Government adopted a National Refugee Policy that covers various aspects of the management of refugee matters and their protection in Tanzania. Tanzania is a peaceful country in a troubled region and has been host to the largest refugee population in Africa. Refugee numbers peaked in the-mid nineties following the Rwandan genocide. Today, Tanzania has around 350,000 refugees mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Tanzania is not expecting to see mass repatriation in the next years despite improved democracy in the region. The issue of security poses a tremendous challenge to the host State. In order to ensure the protection of asylum seekers and unaccompanied children (especially girls) the Government of Tanzania has instituted a number of measures. All refugees and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, are properly registered and documented upon arrival at entry points before being sent to their designated areas. In addition: · Unaccompanied refugee children are attached to foster families · A family-tracing programme is conducted by the Tanzania Red Cross Society A number of policies and programmes protect children’s access to health, education and social services, and indeed many of the key child welfare indicators are higher in the camps than in the country at large. Refugee children, like any other refugees, enjoy access to the existing asylum procedures in the country. During emergency situations whereby refugees enter en-masse, refugee children undergo the same process as adults (screening process at entry points, registration, medical examination, access to food and non-food items). During the process of seeking asylum it is the head of the family who 50 The Act deals with reunion of the family, where the child can be reunited with his/her mother or father or his/her relative. The Refugee Act is silent on the issue of unaccompanied children, it however provides for compulsory primary education. . As noted in Article of 6 this report all children born in Tanzania have a right to registration at birth and have a right to Tanzania citizenship. 58