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Accepted Paper:
Protracted refugees and the ‘invisible diaspora’: A tale of Somali Refugees, host communities, and resettlements
Abdirahman Mahamud
(Ruhr Universitat Bochum)
This paper addresses a rarely discussed issue of the host community's disguise as refugees, leading to an 'invisible diaspora,' and aims to broaden discussions on the refugee diaspora. Using interviews, the paper also explores transnational relations of the refugee diaspora with places of origin
Paper long abstract:
In the early 1990s, the civil war in Somalia caused a significant surge in the number of Somali refugees in East Africa. This influx has continued due to ongoing conflict, as well as drought and climate conditions in the region. The majority of Somali refugees are hosted in East African countries, with Ethiopia and Kenya having the largest number of refugees globally. The refugees and host communities are primarily composed of the same people, with camps located in territories inhabited by Somalis in Kenya and Ethiopia. Some members of the host community have registered as refugees to access the resources and benefits provided, resulting in the resettlement of host communities. This paper addresses the rarely discussed issue of the host community's disguise as refugees, leading to an 'invisible diaspora,' and aims to broaden discussions on the refugee diaspora. The paper is based on qualitative interviews conducted in Kebribayah, located in Ethiopia's Somali region, with refugees, hosts, and members of the 'invisible diaspora.' The paper goes beyond examining refugee-host relations by exploring the transnational relations of the refugee diaspora (consisting of resettled refugees and host communities) with their places of origin.