# Somali Bantu (Jareer) resettlement from Kenya to the United States

> How Somali Bantu refugees went from Kenya's camps to the United States, 1992 to 2008: the Tanzania and Mozambique plans, Kakuma, numbers and later removals.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

From October 1992, thousands of Somali Bantu farmers fled the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley for refugee camps in Kenya. A decade later the United States began resettling about 12,000 to 13,000 of them, by different sources' counts. A 2003 profile for the US State Department said no group this large from a single African minority had come to the United States before ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). This page sets out how that happened, with each claim attributed.

## Who are the Somali Bantu?

The Somali Bantu, also called Jareer, are farming communities of southern Somalia who live mostly along the Jubba and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) rivers ([Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). This 2003 profile, written for the US State Department's refugee bureau, estimated the whole Bantu population of southern Somalia at about 600,000.

The profile describes three groups. Some are indigenous to Somalia. Others descend from people brought to Somalia as slaves and absorbed into Somali society. A third group, descended from enslaved people who kept their east African languages and identity, was the one resettled (same source).

Many in that group trace their ancestry to present-day Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi, including the Zigua, Zaramo, Makua, Yao, Ngindo and Nyasa peoples ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). The profile says 25,000 to 50,000 enslaved people were brought into Somalia's river areas from 1800 to 1890. A 2019 law journal article puts the number enslaved by the Sultanate of Zanzibar at about 50,000 ([Van Lehman and McKee, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).

For minority communities in Somalia in general, see [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## What happened to them before 1991?

The 2003 profile gives this account ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)):

- **1840s:** people escaping slavery in the Shabelle valley began settling in the forested Jubba valley, later called Goshaland.
- **Early 1900s:** an estimated 35,000 former slaves lived in Jubba valley villages, often grouped by their east African people of origin.
- **Early 20th century:** the Italian colonial authority abolished slavery in southern Somalia, though some inland groups stayed enslaved until the 1930s.
- **Mid-1930s:** the Italian administration brought in forced labour on its river-valley plantations.
- **1972:** the government made Af Maxaa the official written Somali language. The profile says this cut off speakers of [Af Maay](/en/society/the-somali-language/), the main language of the south.

The Georgetown article dates the language decision to 1973, and says the plantation labour scheme, known as *kolonyo*, began in 1935 ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)). Both sources describe exclusion of the Bantu from government posts, schooling and land title. These are the authors' accounts, drawing on scholars such as Lee Cassanelli, Catherine Besteman and Ken Menkhaus.

## Why did Somali Bantu flee to Kenya?

When the central state collapsed in 1991, the Bantu farms of the Jubba valley held food stocks as famine spread ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). The profile says armed groups raided these farms, robbing, raping and killing farmers. It says the Bantu had no clan protection to call on.

In October 1992, by the profile's account, Bantu began to flee in large numbers to camps near the Kenyan border (same source). By January 1994 an estimated 10,000 Bantu lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps. Several thousand more went by sea, to Marafa camp near Malindi in Kenya and Mkuyu camp near Handeni in Tanzania.

For the camps themselves, see [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/) and [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## What was life like for Bantu refugees in the camps?

The profile says Bantu families were placed in blocks at the outer edges of the camps ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). It gives two reasons: when they arrived, and discrimination from other Somali refugees. On the edges, it says, they were more exposed to night-time attacks, and they built fenced compounds with guards.

The profile reports that in the camps' first years Bantu suffered violent attacks out of proportion to their numbers (same source). It also records that women of every group faced rape while gathering firewood, until a US-funded firewood programme began. Accusations ran in both directions between Bantu and other Somali refugees, it says, and fighting sometimes followed.

Bantu refugees farmed small plots, ran a tree nursery in one camp and worked for aid agencies as builders and labourers (same source).

## Why Tanzania and Mozambique first?

Resettlement in Africa was tried first. The 2003 profile says Bantu refugees sought resettlement to Tanzania in 1993 and 1994, and to Mozambique in 1997 and 1998 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). In January 1994, by its estimate, 75% of the Bantu in the Kenyan camps wanted to go to Tanzania and not back to Somalia.

These plans rested on proving ties to an east African people. The profile says this led some Bantu refugees to identify as Mushunguli, the name for the Zigua, and to use Swahili, even where they had lost their ancestral language (same source).

Tanzania did take in Bantu refugees of Zigua ancestry who reached it directly. UNHCR reported that about 3,000 were settled at Chogo and later given Tanzanian citizenship ([UNHCR, "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land"](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land)). See [Tanzania (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## How did the United States resettlement work?

The United States considered the Somali Bantu for resettlement in 1999, according to the 2003 profile ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). They were admitted under Priority 2 of the US Refugee Admissions Program, as a group of "special humanitarian concern" ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).

The main steps, as reported:

- **2002:** over 12,000 Somali Bantu were moved from Dadaab to the Kakuma camp in north-west Kenya, to be interviewed by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).
- **After September 2001:** processing of refugees for the United States slowed sharply after the 11 September attacks, Voice of America reported in June 2003 ([VOA, June 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html)).
- **Before departure:** families took cultural orientation classes sponsored by the State Department, covering city life, money and US law, including that forced sex within marriage is a crime in the United States ([IPS, 14 November 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).
- **May 2003:** more than 70 Somali Bantu refugees arrived in US cities, the first of nearly 12,000 to be resettled over the following three years, NPR reported ([NPR, 23 May 2003](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s)).

Before this, an estimated 300 Somali Bantu already lived in the United States, about 120 of them in Clarkston, Georgia ([VOA, June 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html); [Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).

## How many Somali Bantu were resettled?

Sources give different totals:

- **NPR, 2003:** "nearly 12,000" planned ([NPR, 2003](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s)).
- **Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 2019:** "12,000" ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).
- **IPS, 2006:** "13,000 Somali Bantu have finally been allowed" to come ([IPS, 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).
- **Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2013:** about 13,000 resettled from 2004 through 2008, in states including Texas, Kansas, Maine and Missouri ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

UNHCR's yearly data does not separate Bantu from other Somalis. It shows Somali refugee resettlement to the United States rising from 1,993 in 2003 to 13,331 in 2004, then 10,405 in 2005 and 10,356 in 2006 ([UNHCR solutions API, Somalia to the United States](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=USA)). It fell to 6,969 in 2007 and 2,523 in 2008 (same source).

## Where in the United States did they settle?

Families were spread across many states. Local reports on this site include:

- **Phoenix:** one of the first families arrived on 22 May 2003; see [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/).
- **Atlanta and Clarkston:** an existing Bantu community helped receive new arrivals; see [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/).
- **Kansas City, San Diego, Denver and Dallas–Fort Worth:** arrivals from 2004 onward; see [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/), [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/), [Denver](/en/diaspora/denver/) and [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/).
- **Lewiston, Maine:** Bantu families moved on there as "secondary migrants" after first settling elsewhere. Anthropologist Catherine Besteman's 2016 book follows them from the Jubba valley through the Kenyan camps to Lewiston ([Duke University Press, Making Refuge](https://www.dukeupress.edu/making-refuge)). See [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/).

A 2006 documentary, *Rain in a Dry Land*, followed two Bantu families from a Kenyan camp to Springfield, Massachusetts and Atlanta ([IPS, 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).

## What happened after resettlement?

The 2003 profile listed challenges the families would face: little schooling, no English, no jobs in a modern economy, and discrimination ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). It advised resettling extended families together. It also cautioned agencies not to assume trust between Bantu and other Somalis in the United States.

Some were later removed. The Georgetown article says that since 2016 "dozens" of Somali Bantu men have been removed from the United States to Somalia ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)). The 20 removed men in its survey had all arrived as refugees from 2003 to 2006 and were removed from 2016 to 2018. Most were born in Kenya's camps or arrived there as infants, it says. For removals in general, see [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Kenya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Tanzania (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)
- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/)

## Sources

1. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. "The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture." Culture Profile No. 16. Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. February 2003. [ERIC ED482784](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Van Lehman, D. J. and McKee, E. M. "Removals to Somalia in Light of the Convention against Torture: Recent Evidence from Somali Bantu Deportees." Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 33(3), 2019. [law.georgetown.edu](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land." [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Voice of America. "Somali Bantus in Georgia." Broadcast 2 June 2003. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Inter Press Service (Rollo Romig). "FILM: Somali Bantu Find Strange New Life in Urban U.S." 14 November 2006. [ipsnews.net](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. NPR (Jennifer Ludden). "Somali Refugees Begin Relocation to U.S." Morning Edition, 23 May 2003. [npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Diane Smith, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, via WardheerNews. "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary." 7 July 2013. [wardheernews.com](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (resettlement), Somalia to the United States, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=USA). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Besteman, C. "Making Refuge: Somali Bantu Refugees and Lewiston, Maine." Duke University Press, February 2016. [dukeupress.edu](https://www.dukeupress.edu/making-refuge). Checked 12 November 2026.

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