Paper short abstract:

The paper examines how humanitarian interventions in South Sudan shaped regional migration patterns. Given the erosion of refugee protection globally, I explore how the ‘political’ appears in narratives of doing business in Juba among migrants differently situated along a spectrum of force-voluntariness.

Paper long abstract:

The paper takes up the ways in which the large-scale humanitarian and state-building interventions in South Sudan reshaped regional migration patterns, economies and social relations in East Africa and the Horn. International stabilization efforts are accompanied by enormous flows of financial and material resources into struggling economies further eroded by conflict and crisis. These material flows present opportunities for those willing to take on the risk of operating in the midst of substantial insecurity. Placing 'economic' migration to Juba in its political context, I consider the social, economic and communicative practices that call forth, sustain, and collapse this particular conduit of material and human investment. Given the qualitative erosion of refugee protection in the region and beyond, I look beyond the boom-town narratives to highlight the ways in which the 'political' appears in narratives of doing business across borders among migrants differently situated along a spectrum of force and voluntariness. In particular, I consider how notions of masculinity, autonomy, dependence and political commitment figure in decisions by migrants not to seek asylum—whether in large refugee camps in the region, or by joining family resettled to Europe, Australia or North America. The paper draws on field work 6 month of field work conducted in Juba, South Sudan in 2015.