Refugees, Conflict and the Search for Belonging

ISBN-13: 9783319335629 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 206 str.

Lucy Hovil

Opis

This book is about the convergence of two problems: the ongoing realities of conflict and forced migration in Africa s Great Lakes region, and the crisis of citizenship and belonging. By bringing them together, the intention is to see how, combined, they can help point the way towards possible solutions. Based on 1,115 interviews conducted over 6 years in the region, the book points to ways in which refugees challenge the parameters of citizenship and belonging as they carve out spaces for inclusion in the localities in which they live. Yet with a policy environment that often leads to marginalisation, the book highlights the need for policies that pull people into the centre rather than polarise and exclude; and that draw on, rather than negate, the creativity that refugees demonstrate in their quest to forge spaces of belonging."

Spis treści

Acknowledgements.- Map.- Introduction.- I. Overview of the field research and methodology.- II. Overview of the book.- 1. Conflict and displacement, citizenship and belonging: a framework for discussion.- I. Citizenship - belonging to a polity?.- II. (De)constructions of citizenship: a rights perspective.- III. Multiple forms of belonging.- IV. The politics of ethnicity.- V. Belonging and territory: the politics of autochthony.- VI. Forced migration and its linkages with notions of inclusion and exclusion.- 2. Living through exile: (not) belonging to a state.- I. National exclusion in exile.- Becoming Tanzanian?.- II. Reclaiming national belonging through return to Burundi?.- III. National exclusion through unresolved legacies of violence.- IV. National identity: an anecdote to violence.- V. Belonging to an un-functioning state?.- VI Conclusion.- 3. Living through exile: belonging to a state.- I. Staying in Tanzania: needing to belong locally.- II. Burundi: Restoring Social Contracts?.- III. Belonging in Eastern DRC's North Kivu province.- IV. Conclusion.- 4. Local and national belonging in exile: convergence or divergence?.- I. Congolese refugees in Rwanda.- II. The role of ethnicity.- No room for multiple forms of allegiance.- Tanzania - local and national belonging.- III. Burundi: still not belonging.- IV. Conclusion.- 5. Marginalised in Sudan, exiled from Sudan: Citizenship on the margins.- I. Citizenship and displacement in the context of Sudan.- Living in the capital.- Extending the logic of exclusion beyond the conflict zones.- Imposing exclusion.- A history of marginalisation reinforced by secession.- Resisting exclusion.- II. Belonging on the wrong side of the border.- Darfuris in South Sudan: IDPs, refugees, migrants or citizens?.- A war rooted in marginalisation.- What future in South Sudan?.- Evolving forms of identification.- Legal status or local belonging?.- Conclusion.- 6. Refugee policy structures: promoting or undermining belonging?.- I. Aspects of policy: undermining belonging.- II. South Sudan: hoping for peace but preparing for war.- Geographical spread.- A process of time.- Eluding categorisation.- Repatriation and belonging.- Belonging to a place.- Belonging to a people.- Belonging to a polity.- III. Tanzania: from inclusive to exclusive understandings of belonging.- IV. Rwandan refugees: when is safe return safe?.- V. Congolese in Rwanda: ending exile by ending causes of war.- VI. An alternative reality? Making sense of belonging.- Conclusion I. Resisting marginalisation.- II. Movement as an antidote.- III. Externally driven peace agreements that lack inclusion.- IV. Re-securing citizenship?

O autorze

Dr. Lucy Hovil has sixteen years of experience conducting research amongst displaced and conflict-affected groups in East and Central Africa, first with the Refugee Law Project of Makerere University, Uganda, and then with the International Refugee Rights Initiative. She received her PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, UK, in 2000, and is the Managing Editor of the International Journal of Transitional Justice.

Blurb

This book is about the convergence of two problems: the ongoing realities of conflict and forced migration in Eastern and Central Africa, and the crisis of citizenship and belonging. By bringing them together, the intention is to see how, combined, they can help point the way towards possible solutions. Based on 1,115 interviews conducted over 6 years in the region, the book points to ways in which refugees challenge the parameters of citizenship and belonging as they carve out spaces for inclusion in the localities in which they live. Yet with a policy environment that often leads to marginalisation, the book highlights the need for policies that pull people into the centre rather than polarise and exclude; and that draw on, rather than negate, the creativity that refugees demonstrate in their quest to forge spaces of belonging.

Dr. Lucy Hovil has sixteen years of experience conducting research amongst displaced and conflict-affected groups in East and Central Africa, first with the Refugee Law Project of Makerere University, Uganda, and then with the International Refugee Rights Initiative. She received her PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, UK, in 2000, and is the Managing Editor of the International Journal of Transitional Justice.