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Paper short abstract:

While the international refugee regime envisages repatriation, local integration and resettlement as preferred refugee solutions, the if and how the actual implementation of these solutions is mostly determined by the history and politics of host state in regard to the refugees in question.

Paper long abstract:

While in theory the international refugee regime provides for repatriation, resettlement and local integration as solutions to the refugee problem, in practice the implementation of these solutions are heavily influenced by the politics in the host state regarding the refugees in question. In Kenya, securitization of the Somali nation and the historically tense relationship between Kenya and Somalia has rendered local integration of Somali refugees untenable. Consequently, the Government of Kenya (GoK) has often maintained that Somali refugees in Dadaab camp should repatriate to Somalia, with no option of local integration. To justify its position, GoK maintains that Somalia is now safe for return and that conditions in Somalia have improved. Critics, however, point out that Somalia is still too fragile for mass returns⸺ because Al Shabaab militants are still capable of launching devastating attacks on civilians and security agents in Somalia ⸺ and that weak state capacity may not manage the challenges of mass returnees. This, they argue, could further threaten peacebuilding processes in Somalia and risk intensifying resource-related conflicts like access to and ownership of land. This project aims to explore how the politics in host Kenya have influenced the manner in which refugee solutions of repatriation, resettlement and local integration have been applied to Somali refugees in Kenya. It intends to shift the conversation from exclusively looking at the three refugee solutions of repatriation, local integration and resettlement to that of the politics around refugee solutions, and how it ultimately influences the actual implementation of refugee solutions.