Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on a rich body of mobilities literature concerning Uganda’s borderlands to closely examine how the interventions of humanitarian and government actors fundamentally shape and reshape the rhythms of everyday movement for South Sudanese individuals currently living in displacement.

Paper long abstract:

Rich anthropological work in Uganda's border regions has highlighted the uneven, practical, everyday qualities of mobilities that persist before, during, and after moments of crisis-induced displacement. This paper builds on this legacy to closely examine the ways that bureaucratic interventions of humanitarian and government actors fundamentally shape and reshape the rhythms of everyday movement for South Sudanese individuals living in displacement. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in northwestern Uganda (2022-2024), it explores the mobilities that contour life for South Sudanese people in Uganda.

In Uganda, refugees living outside formally designated refugee settlements are deemed ‘self-reliant’. However, contrary to conventional assumptions of economic self-sufficiency, South Sudanese individuals continue to travel to Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement regularly to maintain their connections to the humanitarian development infrastructure. Employing a mobile method, this research provides a rich, contextually grounded account of these movements. The paper focuses on two extended case studies: the monthly distribution of general food and cash assistance and an individual profiling exercise (IPE). For South Sudanese people registered as refugees in Uganda, these events determine both short-term and long-term access to ongoing material assistance, ultimately producing particular rhythms of movement between the city and the settlement. Engaging with insights from critical migration scholars, the paper examines how the demands of the humanitarian-development response infrastructure shape movements, having wide-ranging impacts on the daily lives of South Sudanese people in West Nile.