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The scale of corruption at the hands of the Kenyan police, and the discrimination Somalis face in the country is really shocking. During the Usalama Watch operation, police went about in Nairobi asking any Somali for an identification. Those that had refugee status or no papers at all feared being sent back to Dadaab or another refugee camp. The shocking thing is that the police was not really out to catch "illegal immigrants". All they wanted is to collect bribes from those that didn't have papers. I wonder how this kind of corruption could be stopped. It's very frustrating to read that those with a stable and relatively high salary steal from those who live from hand to mouth.

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City of Thorns, Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlence

Sound of Torture (2013) - [TW] documentary on the torture of Eritrean refugees in the Sinai.

Fire at Sea (2016) - documentary contrasting the everyday life in Lampedusa and migrants crossing the Med

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This reading was fascinating for highlighting agency and resilience of refugees in camps in ways that I have never come across before. I have found the negative aspects of refugee camps to dominate discourse; where conditions are poor and choices are limited, but this paper described the entrepreneurship and relative wealth of refugees who received remittances. These insights contribute to a nuanced understanding of life as a refugee in Kenya.

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It was a distressing read looking at how the exact same policies of integration and hospitality have the opposite effect in a 'paradox of welcome'. Ethiopia's porous national borders give the facade of effective refugee management and garner international funds for doing so and yet their internal borders are as restrictive and exclusionary as the international borders their rhetoric supposedly contests. It has become yet another example of ineffective and cyclical international development funding that presumes it is solving a problem that in reality it is exacerbating.

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This article highlights the exploitation and heavy influence the Government have caused to create community exclusion between the Indian community of South Dehli and the people of Burma, otherwise known as Rohingya; they were displaced and made stateless. Socio-economic positions of refugees are through shared traditions and the refugee identity is contructed to set these two cultures in the same community apart. In this harrowing article, to conclude, it focuses on who is internationally recognised and who is in favour by the Indian Government.

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This paper made me think about the importance of voice, and the consequences reducing refugee’s to ‘bare life’ has, both in dehistorisisng and dehumanising them. It conveys that “humanitarian practices silence refugees”, in this their voices are not just muted but they are stripped entirely from agency and authority to give credible narratives about their own experiences. Spoken for by individuals higher in the hierarchy of humanity, by refugee experts or officials. Malkki experiences, in her ethnographic case that, humanitarian staff were trying to identify “exemplary victims”, the most helpless and the severely vulnerable. Often refugees are viewed as “unreliable informants”, evidence of wounds are accepted as proof of suffering. This strategy is, of course, flawed as wounds fade, and are not always visible, as violence is not always physical. It seems to follow the narrative of the development discourse, which is determined by those in power, separating those who are seen as more deserving. How can a scale of vulnerability be predetermined, especially, when the voices of those suffering are not included in the conversation?

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This reading made me think what international society can do for refugees. As this paper shows, the Operation Rudi Nyumbani has not worked for refugees and it has been related to vested interests of the government. If the government does not work for refugees and stop NGO to help them, then how should international society support refugees? Can media be the alternative actor?

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This paper picks up on an aspect of refugee management that can be extrapolated across the globe in that the refugee is rarely afforded genuine long-term security in real terms, and is thus caught in a state of permanent unsettlement due to the nature of being a 'guest'. The authors write that policy in Ethiopia "has not included a path to citizenship for refugees in anticipation that they will someday return home," and so compounds a sense of temporality for those who have been displaced. How effective integration can ever be achieved under such conditions is bewildering.

It is also interesting to note the language of the markets that pervades into refugee framing, reducing the very real human experience of suffering and displacement into something that can be capitalised upon - "shifting refugees from humanitarian burdens to economic actors and agents of development." The term 'burden' itself is of course extremely problematic and neglects historical contexts and regional/global influences on the production of refugees. However, by distancing policy from those it affects with 'market talk' means refugees become another commodity to be managed or misused, blindsiding agency and ambition of refugees themselves.

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This paper is unapologetically frank in outlining the many forms of violence that Eritreans encounter, perpetrated by their own state elites and beyond their borders by other agents, traffickers, media etc. Connell lays bare the numerous barriers to personal independence Eritreans face from crackdowns on political dissent to compulsory military service that leads to heightened precarity and reduces living to surviving. The paper guides the reader through historical context, push factors, refugee experience and ends with what needs to be done in terms of reinvigorating durable solutions.

Particularly interesting was the conceptual frame of "no-peace-no -war" which is a reflection of the impermanence of refugee situations. Not only are displaced persons caught in bureaucratic limbos or otherwise, but the Eritrean/Ethiopian geography itself is suspended in a violent cycle that renders reconciliation a distant ideal.

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Ikanda's article spotlights the specific classifications of vulnerabilities required by refugees, to trigger a humanitarian response from the International Community;  it also highlights the need for this group, to not only prove they are 'genuine subjects of compassion' (p.5.), but to also constantly demonstrate some degree of fragility, in order to obtain the sympathy of those, in whose hands, their fate lies.  The District Commissioner's disparaging remarks about the occupants of the camp, reveal the deep-seated fear and suspicion with which the occupants of the camp are viewed and the concomitant lack of compassion felt about their  positionality within the camp. An obtrusive paradox in the present reading, however, is the fact that  despite the precariousness of their situation, the occupants of the camp, according to the author, display a high level of resilience, which could potentially leave them 'permanently rooted in exile.' P.4./p.15.).
Laura A

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I worked with Eritrean & Sudanese refugees who had made it/been trafficked through the Sinai into Israel a few years back and this article just barely touches on the true horror of their experiences. From kidnapping, being held for ransom and tortured in the Sinai, being labelled as 'infiltrators' in Israel and being detained at Saharonim (the "open air" prison) in the Negev desert - this line "lacking legal status and unable to marshal the resources or the stamina to keep moving" - really sums up the situation for many.

I remember when a friend, after 7 years of legal appeals, became the first Sudanese person granted refugee status in Israel. He's part of the less than 2% that have achieved this legal protection there.

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This paper makes an urgent point about the risk of state mandated development plans on local peoples' livelihoods. The problem in this case seems to be this: that development plans are justified in terms of large scale benefits, : 'for the greater good' of the nation. Such a rationale effectively discounts of the interests and needs of the minority whose stake in the operation by far exceeds those of disaffected majority, in virtue of their ownership of the land and the negative impact upon their lives caused by resettlement.

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Similar to Yana the corruption was palpable. This article by Balakian reminded me of the work of Gakuo Mwangi (2017) and somalinization and their notion of institutionalized stateless

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This paper was interesting on so many different levels. It highlights the devastating disruption that any forced displacement of a community inevitably involves. For example, you can ‘fix’ problems needed to maintain life - such as survival level food access - but you can’t (instantly) recreate the essential social aspects of a community that are necessary for human well-being.

I have to add a non-anthropological comment! Their reflections on the limitations of the survey component of their study are a cautionary tale for those who use quantitative methods, but the authors could perhaps have been more critical of their own methods. For example, just because a survey instrument calls itself a ‘food insecurity access’ questionnaire doesn’t mean that that it’s measuring food insecurity! The depth of insight from their ethnographic work illustrates how surveys can at best only answer the questions that you know to ask in the first place. The power of mixed-methods research in my view comes from using ethnographic(and other qualitative) evidence to help determine what questions you should be asking and how, and also to understand how to sample  the group your interested in.

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I as well wonder how its possible to end corruption in developing countries. We always condemn outsiders, due to the detrimental effects of colonialism, but there is never a spot light on the governments of these countries that should have learnt from the past, but instead continue to take wrong decisions and not giving priority to the well being of citizens and those more vulnerable. Its quite overwhelming. 'cash should be the only sort of paper that would be accepted by police and military' (p.6) This clearly means that refugees were and are hostage to the corruption, and yet they also used their knowledge of the system to make it work as well as it could for themselves and their families

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I think this reading presents an interesting question of the role that international actors and organizations play in creating long-term issues for displaced people. While I am happy to see what humanitarian aid has been able to offer this New Dehli settlement of Rohingya Muslims in terms of improving their living conditions and educational resources, I believe it is also important to recognize the dangers that may come when they become a favored people in a country where they are seen as "other". The fact that there is a media spectacle that follows their narrative while simultaneously ignoring the narratives of neighboring Indians, in a way "gives fuel to the fire" to the nationalist islamophobic discourse that the Indian state is already pushes forward.

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This reading presents an interesting idea in choosing to explore the long-term repercussions that displaced people face as a result of foreign actors and humanitarian aid. While I agree with the resources that have been made available for Rohingya muslims in this New Dehli neighborhood and the different forms of goods that come in from NGOs, I believe this article also draws attention to the issues that can arise for this community down the line. The fact that there is such an international spotlight on this community, the media spectacle surrounding their narrative also produces a kind of negligence for the neighboring Indian community who is also being struck by poverty, lack of resources and social mobility. I think this phenomenon can, for lack of a better term, "give fuel to the fire" of the nationalist and islamophobic agenda that is being pushed forward by the state. In the end, there is a level of fault in the international community for the ensured security and settlement of Rohingya muslims

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This reading presents an interesting idea in choosing to explore the long-term repercussions that  displaced people face as a result of foreign actors and humanitarian aid. While I agree with the resources that have been made available for Rohingya muslims in this New Dehli neighborhood and the different forms of goods that come in from NGOs, I believe this article also draws attention to the issues that can arise for this community down the line. The fact that there is such an international spotlight on this community, the media spectacle surrounding their narrative also produces a kind of negligence for the neighboring Indian community who is also being struck by poverty, lack of resources and social mobility. I think this phenomenon can, for lack of a better term, "give fuel to the fire" of the nationalist and islamophobic agenda that is being pushed forward by the state. In the end, there is a level of fault in the international community for the ensured security and settlement of Rohingya muslims

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I found this article revealing. The sad reality of the contradiction between open hospitable boarders that are internationally recognised and praised and one that restricts any hope of true liberties and integration is palpable here. It is the age old of problem of bureaucracy at its best! It begs the question, how will refugees ever integrate? How will they ever find a normal life when as this article shows for example that education and medical treatment is more accessible in the camps than is it outside.
“life without the promise of stability,” pg 136
Interestingly I understand the plight for those seeking asylum here in the UK can be equally challenging. Integration can take many years!

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The 'precarity' of refugees' situation as long term 'guests' without real prospect of a return to where they came from, yet without real opportunity to integrate or assimilate I found really troubling. I had read the poem Home by Warsan Shire and the line 'no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark' comes to mind. I wonder if host countries are able to consider the very real trauma that predicates a person to leave home and the effect on the psyche to be perpetually designated a 'guest' - a title that seems benign but like this paper presents, in itself gives the refugee a burden of precarity.

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Ikanda instructively highlighted to me the stark issue of UNHCR’s “core mandates” - how can there be fixed procedures in such highly diverse settings? For example the ‘Principle of Family Unity’, which was a core aspect of the procedure of resettlement, was not something that fit with the lived realities of Somalis. The bureaucratic procedures that were in place to help people resettle often meant that they could not do so due to an (often distant) family member holding a Kenyan ID, meaning they were forced to settle there.

As well as this, like others have mentioned, and an analysis that links strongly to Malkki’s work, I found it pertinent to read more on a nuanced understanding of the ‘bare life’ discourse that often accompanies discussions around refugees. Humanitarian discourses perpetuating vulnerability, lack of agency and helplessness can do more harm than good; paying attention to and highlighting the agency that refugees have, often side-stepping the powers of bureaucratic structures in savvy ways due to and in order to hold on hope for the future is crucial.
Emma N

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I felt that the key takeaway from Poole and Riggan’s piece was that policy is never an accurate reflection of conditions on the ground. As they say, refugee lives around the Ethiopia-Eritrea border is a paradox fraught with contradictions. Though ‘Ethiopia continues to assert a message of welcome’ (136) the reality of Eritrean refugee lives in Tigray camps is that they are living in a migratory limbo, living ‘a life without the promise of stability’ (136). My reaction to this is that, though on some level it is obvious that public dialogue never truly reflects reality, it is an important dynamic for ethnographers to always be aware of. This is especially true in the current climate where interaction and research with interlocutors must take place remotely.