Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom, Josiah Kaplan, and Josiah Naohiko
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198795681
- eISBN:
- 9780191836985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198795681.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
The introduction begins by explaining the inadequacies of the existing refugee regime that this book seeks to address by offering urgently needed new thinking. It outlines the challenge of ...
More
The introduction begins by explaining the inadequacies of the existing refugee regime that this book seeks to address by offering urgently needed new thinking. It outlines the challenge of ‘protracted refugee situations’. Today, over half the world’s twenty million refugees are in exile for at least five years, often without the right to work or freedom of movement. One reason for this is the insistence on seeing refugees as a purely humanitarian issue, even beyond the emergency phase. In the absence of durable solutions, development-based approaches are needed to promote greater refugee autonomy and self-reliance. A key problem is that, historically, attempts to bridge the humanitarian–development divide have tended to be state-centric, sidelining refugees’ own skills, talents, and aspirations. This chapter introduces the book’s premise that if refugees’ own engagement with markets can be better recognized and understood, this may offer a way to move from dependency towards sustainability.Less
The introduction begins by explaining the inadequacies of the existing refugee regime that this book seeks to address by offering urgently needed new thinking. It outlines the challenge of ‘protracted refugee situations’. Today, over half the world’s twenty million refugees are in exile for at least five years, often without the right to work or freedom of movement. One reason for this is the insistence on seeing refugees as a purely humanitarian issue, even beyond the emergency phase. In the absence of durable solutions, development-based approaches are needed to promote greater refugee autonomy and self-reliance. A key problem is that, historically, attempts to bridge the humanitarian–development divide have tended to be state-centric, sidelining refugees’ own skills, talents, and aspirations. This chapter introduces the book’s premise that if refugees’ own engagement with markets can be better recognized and understood, this may offer a way to move from dependency towards sustainability.
Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom, Josiah Kaplan, and Josiah Naohiko
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198795681
- eISBN:
- 9780191836985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198795681.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter examines refugee economies in the context of two long-standing refugee settlements in south-west Uganda: Nakivale and Kyangwali. It begins by describing the structure of the settlements, ...
More
This chapter examines refugee economies in the context of two long-standing refugee settlements in south-west Uganda: Nakivale and Kyangwali. It begins by describing the structure of the settlements, their history, and the lives of their inhabitants, and then explains their governance structure. These refugees face a distinctive institutional and regulatory environment compared to host nationals, which creates both opportunities and constraints. While the majority are farmers and rarely leave the settlements, there is also often neglected diversity in terms of refugees’ economic lives. A small but significant number engage in innovation and entrepreneurship, creating opportunities for themselves and others, and even contributing public goods. For the Somali community, which shuns all agricultural work, entrepreneurship is a way of life. Crucially, far from being isolated, the settlements are connected to nearby cities (Mbarara and Hoima) as well as Kampala, through refugee and Ugandan brokers. The chapter investigates variation in these outcomes.Less
This chapter examines refugee economies in the context of two long-standing refugee settlements in south-west Uganda: Nakivale and Kyangwali. It begins by describing the structure of the settlements, their history, and the lives of their inhabitants, and then explains their governance structure. These refugees face a distinctive institutional and regulatory environment compared to host nationals, which creates both opportunities and constraints. While the majority are farmers and rarely leave the settlements, there is also often neglected diversity in terms of refugees’ economic lives. A small but significant number engage in innovation and entrepreneurship, creating opportunities for themselves and others, and even contributing public goods. For the Somali community, which shuns all agricultural work, entrepreneurship is a way of life. Crucially, far from being isolated, the settlements are connected to nearby cities (Mbarara and Hoima) as well as Kampala, through refugee and Ugandan brokers. The chapter investigates variation in these outcomes.
