Paper short abstract:

Refugee settlements are often based in conflict-affected border areas characterised by intense informal cross-border trade. This study in Colombia and Bangladesh shows how displaced people use agency and initiative to navigate cartel controls and strengthen their livelihoods and local economies.

Paper long abstract:

By the end of 2021 there were 27.1 million refugees, 4.7 million asylum seekers, and 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced abroad, according to UNHCR. Of these, 72% live in neighbouring countries, predominantly low- and middle-income economies. Refugee camps and settlements are often located in borders characterised by intense commercial flows including informal cross-border trade. Borders and border control are often shaped by political economy relations between neighbouring states and, in conflict-affected areas, controlled by cartels and elite gangs working in collusion with the state. Yet, beyond high-profile illicit war and drug economies, many displaced communities use diaspora links to establish hazardous, informal cross-border trade in everyday items and licit goods, using ingenious means to circumvent or coopt border guards and customs officials.

Based on the hypothesis that enhancing the mobility rights of displaced people and enabling cross-border trade is central to the process of refugee socio-economic inclusion in host societies, this submission draws on the findings of a small-scale GCRF-funded 2022 project on refugee cross-border trade across the Colombia/Venezuelan and Bangladesh/Myanmar borders, where social relations and complex illicit payments enable refugees to navigate closed borders to address poverty and support livelihoods. The two borders present very different solutions to circumventing state regulation and hostilities. The Rohingya refugees of Cox’s Bazar are confined to camp, but work through Bangladeshi middle-men to navigate the riverine border, while between Colombia and Venezuela, near the town of Cúcuta, ancient ‘trochas’ (footpaths) are coopted for modern contraband routes stimulating the local economies of otherwise peripheral regions.