Paper short abstract:

This article analyses how young people Rwandophone Congolese in refugee camp experience life and construct their identity. Within the context of(in)security, the article explores youth's experiences of conflict through kinship narratives and ways in which they construct identity.

Paper long abstract:

This article analyses how young people Rwandophone Congolese in refugee camp experience life in a shelter and construct their identity. Within the context of such life, the article examines the nature of refugees social, economic and (in)security relationship with the host community. Gihembe refugee camp is among the oldest and has hosted Congolese since 1997. Drawing from in-depth interviews with youth Rwandophone Congolese aged between 21 and 35 years old, the article explores youth's experiences of conflict through kinship narratives and ways in which they construct identity. It emerges from interviews that young people are somewhat confused about how to identify themselves given social and economic relationship developed between them and the host community, which further make the youth to articulate an ambiguous identity: on the one hand, they consider themselves as Rwandan and on the other hand, as Congolese which makes them to think about fighting in other to go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The findings reveal that the (in)security aspect in the original country and in the host country impact on ways of making a home. Additionally, the young people questioned the role of local elites in North Kivu in building sustainable peace.