scholarly journals ‘Madmen, womanizers, and thieves’: moral disorder and the cultural text of refugee encampment in Kenya

Africa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-176
Author(s):  
Hanno Brankamp
Keyword(s):  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Moral Community ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The World ◽  
North Western

AbstractKenya's refugee camps have evoked spectacular imaginaries of terrorism and humanitarian crisis. Drawing on everyday discourses and shared knowledges among camp administrators, this article reveals that these geopolitical narratives are underwritten locally by more generalized concerns about the imagined ‘otherness’ and moral degeneracy of the displaced. Refugees are thus portrayed as criminals and crooks, sexually deviant and idle, as well as ‘mad’ and uncivilized. Together, these tropes constitute a cultural text of encampment that reproduces postcolonial imaginings of difference and engrains the notion that ‘refugeeness’ equates to a state of ‘moral disorder’. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Kakuma refugee camp in north-western Kenya's Turkana county. It argues that the discursive production of refugees as immoral subjects not only has practical effects for the actions of government officials and aid workers but rekindles a binary colonial mapping of the world into ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’ spaces. These social imaginaries and banal discourses illustrate that the camp has not just a political but also an imaginative geography. Kakuma camp is hereby doubly excluded: from the modernity that humanitarianism ostensibly embodies and from the imagined moral community of Kenya.

Sensory Perceptual Experience in Balata Refugee Camp

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-44
Author(s):  
Shahd Adnan M. Qzeih ◽  
Rafooneh Mokhtarshahi Sani
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Mental Image ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
The West ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
The World

Wars and conflicts have caused millions of people to seek asylum outside their homelands and the issue of refugee camps has become a pressing subject in international policy discussions. Conflicts continue to escalate in different parts of the world, especially in Middle Eastern countries. In 1948, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict forced displacement of many Palestinian people. The resulting camps have developed into cluster camp shelters of three to four stories in the West Bank, Gaza, and other regions around historical Palestine; some are perceived to be like gated communities. Being self-sufficient environments, refugee camps have rarely been approached from the perspective of urban psychology. This research deals with sensory perceptual analysis of Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank of Palestinian Territories. Balata is situated in Nablus and has raised four generations of refugees since its establishment. In order to explore the spatial characteristics of such specific environmental experiences, the research adopted a mixed-method approach – systematically evaluating the related literature on sensory perceptual spaces and applying content analysis methods. The study modified the sensory slider tool of Malnar and Vodvarka according to the framework matrix based on the content analysis. Moreover, the case study analysis consisted of observation of the chosen area and 30 in-depth interviews with refugees who were forced out of their homes and settled in the camp as well as some who were born in the camp. The research results show that investigating what camp residents perceive of the five senses can capture meaningful sensory perceptual experiences and can generate a holistic mental image of the refugee camp. Particularly, perceptions of the built environment reflect the difficulty of life experiences. The study concludes that the characteristics of camps in this seventy-year-old conflict environment may not be found in other parts of the world.

Staying out of Place

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Simon Turner
Keyword(s):  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
To Come ◽  
The City

Based on ethnographic fieldwork among Burundian refugees living clandestinely in Nairobi and living in a refugee camp in Tanzania, the article argues that displacement can be about staying out of place in order to find a place in the world in the future. I suggest that the term displacement describes this sense of not only being out of place but also being en route to a future. Burundians in the camp and the city are doing their best to remain out of place, in transition between a lost past and a future yet to come, and the temporary nature of their sojourn is maintained in everyday practices. Such everyday practices are policed by powerful actors in the camp and are ingrained in practices of self-discipline in Nairobi. Comparing the two settings demonstrates that remaining out of place can take on different forms, according to context.

Foundation News

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 536-537
Author(s):  
Paul Bauman
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
Humanitarian Aid Workers ◽  
Sudan I ◽  
The World ◽  
Dave Eggers ◽  
Lost Boys

The Kakuma Refugee Camp (including the nearby Kalobeyei Camp) in the Turkana Desert of northwestern Kenya is home to approximately 200,000 refugees from 21 countries. The camp was established in 1992 to accommodate approximately 40,000 “Lost Boys” who walked there from their villages in Sudan. I have heard many experienced humanitarian aid workers describe Kakuma as the worst place in the world. In Dave Eggers book, What is the What, Lost Boy Achak Deng, after surviving for years as a child wandering across deserts and swamps in Sudan and eventually reaching Kakuma, describes it as “a place in which no one, simply no one but the most desperate, would ever consider spending a day” (Eggers, 2007).

REFUGEE CAMPS AND GATED COMMUNITIES AS A SOLUTION FOR HOUSING

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Büşra Özaydin Çat
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Gated Communities ◽  
Gated Community ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
World War ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

Today the World has a biggest crisis of refugee since The World War II. Refugee is a person who is depressed due to his/her religion, race and ideas or who defect to another country with fear of being oppressed. The refugee camps are high intensity places which provide refugees housing and other social and physical needs. On the other hand today in the capitalist and global cities the most important places for housing are gated communities. The scope of this study is to examine the social and physical similarities of refugee camps and gated communities. Within this framework when we look at some definitions of the concept of gated community, we can see the imitation of refugee camp. In this study, firstly the concept of housing/dwelling and the concept of security which is the most important reason of emerging of gated communities and refugee camps will be analyzed. Then physical and social resemblances of gated communities and refugee camps will be examined. For identifying physical similarities being surrounded by wall or fence, location of the gated communities and refugee camps in the city, their outbuildings like market, pharmacy and their intensity will be analyzed. For social similarities the sense of belonging of refugees and residents and their relations with city will be examined. The results of these will be summarized and evaluated.

scholarly journals The ‘Host’ Label: Forming and Transforming a Community Identity at the Kakuma Refugee Camp

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory Rodgers
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Community Identity ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
North Western

Abstract In 1986, Robert Chambers argued that refugee-centric responses to displacement tend to neglect the populations that host them. Three decades later, the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) has made assistance to host communities a matter of high priority for agencies, policymakers and other stakeholders involved in refugee protection. While recognizing the progressive principles of responsibility sharing and inclusivity that underlie this shift, this article calls for greater critical attention to the meaning of the term ‘host community’ and the ways in which it is applied. Taking the Kakuma refugee camps in north-western Kenya as a case study, I describe the rise of a ‘host community’ identity in the context of humanitarian programming, contested attempts to define it as a bureaucratic label and its transformations under a socio-economic-integration agenda. While the case presented here is specific to Kenya, the argument is relevant more broadly as hosts are brought under the purview of refugee-protection policies, especially in countries implementing the CRRF.

scholarly journals Mental health in Somalia

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Syed Sheriff ◽  
Massimiliano Reggi ◽  
Abdirizak Mohamed ◽  
Farhan Haibe ◽  
Susannah Whitwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
High Mortality ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
The World ◽  
Short And Long Term

Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, suffers violence, political instability and high mortality rates. The recent major drought in Somalia led to what was termed the worst humanitarian disaster in the world. In July 2011 it was reported that nearly 60 000 people had entered into Kenya from Somalia already that year, including 1300 new arrivals every day to the Dadaab refugee camp, described as ‘the largest, most congested and one of the most remote refugee camps in the world’ (see http://www.unhcr.org/4e204b1e9.html). The drought along with mass migration into such poor conditions are likely to have significant short- and long-term mental health consequences for the populations involved.

scholarly journals Enabling Basic Medical Training for Refugees via Collaborative Blended Learning in Kakuma Refugee Camp (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul O'Keeffe ◽  
Thibault Lovey ◽  
Ianis Petignat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level ◽  
Basic Medical

BACKGROUND The world is currently witnessing its highest rates of refugees and displaced persons, with more than 68.5 million people worldwide forced to leave their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence and other human rights violations. International emergency responses have mostly focused on ensuring basic needs such as health, nutrition, and basic education are met. With little end in sight to the majority of refugee crises, there is an increasing realization that longer term solutions are needed to empower young people caught up in these protracted situations. As refugee camps across the world grow exponentially, tertiary education has the potential to provide a solution that could empower refugees and help fill qualified staff shortages in camps, especially in camp health services that aim to satisfy some basic needs of their populations. OBJECTIVE With the advancement of new technologies and easier access to the Internet, higher education has evolved to become a more attainable goal than ever before. Many across the world can now access online and blended learning courses, in situations, such as refugee camps, where brick and mortar higher education is not an option. With this in mind, the University of Geneva’s InZone–Raft project has implemented a blended learning course in Kakuma refugee camp to train 16 students in basic medical studies. METHODS This study focuses on the implementation, pedagogical evolution and impact of this project by looking at factors that influence the students’ knowledge acquisition, the amount of knowledge they acquired, and comparing student outcomes in the course with a previous course in Kakuma. RESULTS Of the 16 students who started the course, 10 received 6 ECTS for successful completion of the course. Overall, it was found that new knowledge was well received by the students, who scored higher in all learning modalities compared to students who took part the previous course. Pedagogical adjustments were also found to improve student involvement in the course, with higher participation rates and better overall satisfaction observed. CONCLUSIONS This project has provided refugees with high-level basic medical training in a challenging environment. This student cohort reached a high level of medical knowledge and was able to develop complex questions on medical topics. In addition, their excellent results in the quizzes and final exams prove that their new knowledge has been well received. This training allows refugees to integrate into the health services in the camp and will have a positive impact on the shortage of staff in the region. In addition, implementation in other refugee camps should be undertaken CLINICALTRIAL NA

scholarly journals Academic Persistence for Students Involved in the Accelerated Education Program in Dadaab Refugee Camp

Refuge ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-140
Author(s):  
Olivier Arvisais ◽  
Patrick Charland ◽  
François Audet ◽  
Yannick Skelling-Desmeules
Keyword(s):  
Academic Persistence ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Attendance Rates ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
The World ◽  
Accelerated Education ◽  
Flexible Schedules ◽  
Different Parts

The academic community has highlighted the lack of research into accelerated education programs (AEPs) in refugee camps. Furthermore, AEPs take different forms in different countries. Generally speaking, however, several AEPs in different parts of the world are known for their low attendance rates. Accordingly, this article presents the key barriers causing absenteeism or preventing students from continuing their education within the program in Dadaab Refugee Camp. Our study shows that humanitarian action itself plays a significant role in pupil academic persistence. Also, flexible schedules are not a solution to absenteeism in AEP.

‘Ah, Ireland, the caring nation’: foreign aid and Irish state identity in the long 1970s

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (151) ◽  
pp. 476-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
State Identity ◽  
Mary Robinson ◽  
Relief Effort ◽  
Head Of State

On a plane leaving Baidoa refugee camp in Somalia in late 1992, an Arab doctor offered John O'Shea, head of the relief agency Goal, a glimpse of how the Irish were viewed in that civil war-ravaged state. ‘Ah, Ireland’, he remarked on learning of O'Shea's country of origin, ‘the caring nation’. He had reason to be complimentary. In addition to the aid agencies and aid workers involved in the ongoing relief effort, Somalia had recently hosted two highprofile visitors from the Irish state. In August 1992 the minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, spent three days in the country to view at first-hand its escalating civil war. He was followed less than two months later by President Mary Robinson, whose arrival at Baidoa on 2 October marked the beginning of a tour – the first by a Western head of state – of the feeding stations and refugee camps that provided succour to those displaced by the conflict.

Forced displacement in Colombia: Magnitude and causes

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Ibanez
Keyword(s):  
State Policy ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Individual Basis ◽  
The Impact

The article describes the magnitude, geographical extent,  and causes of forced population displacements in Colombia. Forced migration in Colombia is a war strategy adopted by armed groups to strengthen territorial strongholds, weaken civilian support to the enemy, seize valuable lands, and produce and transport illegal drugs with ease. Forced displacement in Colombia today affects 3.5 million people. Equivalent to 7.8 percent of Colombia's population, and second worldwide only to Sudan, this shows the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis the country is facing. The phenomenon involves all of Colombia's territory and nearly 90 percent of the country's municipalities expel or receive population. In contrast to other countries, forced migration in Colombia is largely internal. Illegal armed groups are the main responsible parties, migration does not result in massive refugee streams but occurs on an individual basis, and the displaced population is dispersed throughout the territory and not focused in refugee camps. These characteristics pose unique challenges for crafting state policy that can effectively mitigate the impact of displacement.

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