Refugee economies : forced displacement and development PDF
Preview Refugee economies : forced displacement and development
Refugee Economies Refugee Economies Forced Displacement and Development Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom, Josiah Kaplan, and Naohiko Omata 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©AlexanderBetts,LouiseBloom,JosiahKaplan,andNaohikoOmata2017 Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2017 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016943473 ISBN 978–0–19–879568–1 PrintedinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,StIvesplc LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. Preface Most books have a backstory. This one is the culmination of a journey that began nearly two decades ago. Back in 1999, when I was an undergraduate student in economics, I received an opportunity to do voluntary work in a reception centre for asylum seekers and refugees in the Netherlands. While there,Imetextraordinarypeople—fromKosovo,Bosnia,Iran,Iraq,Pakistan, China, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia. A Bosniak lawyer taught me the basics of public international law and an Iranian Olympian taught me table tennis. Despite their talents, the people I met werestuckin limbowhileawaitingthe outcomeoftheir asylumclaims,and deniedtherighttoworkuntiltheirbureaucraticsituationwasresolved.This struckmeasnotonlybadforrefugeesbutalsoforthehostsociety. WhenIreturnedhome,Iwantedtowritemyundergraduatedissertationon the topic. But I was an economics student and, back at my university, there was scepticism about whether refugees and economics could really go together. Nevertheless, my supervisor, Frank Bohn, supported my idea to write a dissertation applying ideas from microeconomics to the refugee con- text.Afterwards,Ibroadenedmyresearchfocustowardsthepoliticsofrefugee protection,believingIwouldleaveeconomicsbehind. But, as I travelled to do research in refugee camps across Africa, the same themesresurfaced.Talentedpeoplewiththecapacitytocontributewereleftin intractablelimbo,sometimesfordecades,inrefugeecamps,wheretheywere deniedtherighttowork.Thehumanitarianmodel,basedonlong-termassist- ance, was failing. The rare historical examples of host countries giving refu- gees greater opportunity seemed to rely upon taking a broader development perspective. Then,in2010,whilespendingayearatStanford,apossibilityarosetorevisit someoftheeconomicthemesthathadstartedmycareer.Basedintheheartof Silicon Valley, I was surrounded by tech, start-ups, and social enterprise. I thought to myself ‘This is great—but how is it relevant to me? I work on refugees,andsurelythat’saboutwhatgovernmentsandinternationalorgan- izationsdo?’Andthenthepennydropped.Whatifwecouldrethinktherole ofmarkets in relationtorefugees?Whatifwe hada betterunderstanding of Preface theeconomiclivesofrefugeesthemselves?Mightthatofferanopportunityto movebeyonddependencyandtowardsmoresustainablesolutions? Ataroundthesametime,inOctober2010,IwasinvitedtoTexasforthefirst timetogiveaseriesoflectures.WhileinDallas,IwasintroducedtoStephanie andHunterHunt,whohadrecentlycreatedtheHuntInstituteforEngineer- ingandHumanity,andbecomeinterestedinhowtocreatemoreinnovative solutions for refugees. Their visits to camps in Kenya and Thailand had led themtosharethefrustrationsIfelt.Whycouldn’twefindbetterwaystohelp refugeestohelpthemselves? As a result, we co-founded the Humanitarian Innovation Project, based in the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. The overall project’s basicaimwastounderstandtheroleoftechnology,innovation,andbusiness in relation to refugee assistance, with a focus on the initiative of refugees themselves.StephanieandIbrainstormedideasfortheproject’sinitialfocus country,travellingtogethertoUgandainearly2012,wherewehadprelimin- arymeetingswithUNHCRinKampalaandtheKyangwalirefugeesettlements. The decision to focus on Uganda was based on its exceptionalism. Unlike most other refugee-hosting countries around the world, it gives refugees the righttoworkandfreedomofmovement,aspartofitsSelf-RelianceStrategy. Thisofferedauniqueopportunitytoexplorewhathappenswhenrefugeesare given basic socio-economic freedoms. It is also a country with a large and diverserefugeepopulation. We began hiring the Humanitarian Innovation Project team, with Louise and Naohiko joining as Research Officers in 2012 and Josiah following as a ResearchConsultantin2013.Theaimhadbeentocreateaninterdisciplinary team.Betweenus,wehadtraininginanthropology,economics,management, engineering, and political science. Thereafter, Refugee Economies rapidly becamethecentralfocusofourresearch. Some academic research, notably the pioneering work of Karen Jacobsen, had already taken place on the economic lives of refugees. But much of the existing literature was based on localized qualitative studies. Although extremely important, two things were missing: data and theory. One of our primaryresearchgoalsbecametoaddressthesegaps,includingthroughquan- titative data collection. To our knowledge, there had been no previous aca- demic studies that had created an original dataset on the economic lives of refugees. Butwealsodidnotwanttodowhatsomanyeconomistsdo:turnupwith our clipboards and our pre-designed survey, ask questions, and then simply leave. Instead, we wanted to adopt an approach that would build lasting relationshipswithinthecommunities,workwithrefugeesaspeerresearchers, andhopefullyleaveapositivelegacyforrefugeesandthehostsociety. vi Preface To balance these competing imperatives called for methodological innov- ation.Itrequiredustobuildtrust—includingwithrefugees,thegovernment, and UNHCR—and to be able to work at scale across a number of different research sites, urban and rural. It needed us to use participatory research methods and to invest immense time in building and nurturing research capacityatthenationallevel. Toachievethis,webuiltalargein-countryteam,allofwhoareultimately theco-creatorsoftheresearchonwhichthisbookisbased.TheUgandateam comprised three national research coordinators: Clarissa Tumwine, Rashid Mwesigwa, and Hope Zainab Natukunda. It also comprised a large number of researchers who also happened to be refugees: Wardo Omar Abdullahi, HusseinAhmedAbukar,DavidBachy,WilliamBakunzi,SeinyaBekele,Caesar Bishovu, Osman Faiz, Sada Faiz, Kiflu Hussain, Angelique Kabami, Cosmos Lugala, Abdullahi Mahil, Bernadette Muhongaiyre, Robert Hakiza Ngirwa, Gemus Ngirabakunzi, Ntakamaze Nziyonvira, and Abdirahman Sheik Mahi Yusuf. Without their commitment to the project, this book would simply notexist. Surveyassistancewasalsoprovidedbyourteamofenumerators:Emmanuel Baraka, Emmanuel Mbabzi, Clovis Bosco, Jean Claude, Mohamed Hasan, Patricia Kalambayi, Rosemary Kamariza, Alexis Kubana, Hellen Mabonga, EmmanuelMfitundinda,AbdallaMuhamed,AishaMuhamoodAbdi,Eugenie Mukandayisenga, Damien Ndemezo, Christopher Okidi, Abdifatah Hassan Osman, Bosco Pagama, Christian Salumu, Richard Tombe, Richard Veve, JimmyWamimbi,JosephYuggu,andoursurveysitesupervisors,JoanAliobe andHenryMugisha. That team received training in research methods, led by Naohiko and Josiah, and it has been gratifying to see so many of our researchers go on to achievesomuch.RobertHakizawasawardedtheOckendenPrizeforhiswork in developing a skills training programme for refugees at his community- based organization, YARID. Kiflu Hussain was resettled to the United States where he continued to work as a researcher at the Hunt Institute for Engin- eering and Humanity. Ntakimaze Nziyonvira and Angelique Kabami both receivedMastercardscholarshipstogoandstudyabroad. WehavealsobenefitedimmenselyfromtheresearchsupportofourOxford team. Eli Grant was our main statistician and did most of our data analysis. AndreaAbellvanEsalsoprovidedassistanceondataanalysisatanearlystage. Other research assistants have included Georgia Cole, Evan Easton-Calabria, RomyFaulkner,BenKenneally,andCherieSaulter.AnneliChambliss-Howse providedlanguageeditingonanearlydraftofthismanuscript.Finally,from withinOxford,ourworkwasonlypossiblebecauseoftheroleofourresearch coordinators,MafaldaPicarraandthenNinaWeaver. vii Preface Institutionally, we are incredibly grateful to both the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) of the Government of Uganda and the Office of the United NationsHighCommissionerforRefugees(UNHCR)forsupportingourwork, especiallyinthefield.Amongthemanycolleagueswhoassisted,wearegrateful to Charles Bafaki, Douglas Asiimwe, Betsy Lippman, Theresa Beltramo, Line Pedersen,GaelaRoudy-Fraser,Steve Corliss,SakuraAtsumi,OlivierDelarue, andChrisEarney. The work benefited immensely from a series of presentations and lectures, throughwhichwereceivedincrediblyhelpfulfeedback.Theseincludedpresen- tationsatDFID,GIZ,theWorldBank,UNHCR,theDanishRedCross,Harvard University,StanfordUniversity,andtheWorldHumanitarianSummit’sGlobal Consultations, as well as a seminar series on ‘Refugee Economies’ held at the RefugeeStudiesCentre. Wealsopublishedanearlypolicybriefwithsomeofourdescriptivestatis- tics and human stories as ‘Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assump- tions’,whichwelaunchedinJuly2014atourownHumanitarianInnovation Conference.Thisenabledustoreceivefurtherfeedbackonthework,aswellas increasinginterestinourUgandastudy.Wewerealsoabletoholdsubsequent launcheventsinbothKampalaandNairobi,generouslyhostedbyUNHCR,as wellasoneintheNakivalesettlement. However, it was the so-called European refugee crisis, beginning in April 2015, which created unprecedented interest in our work on Refugee Econ- omies, and especially our Uganda study. The work has received coverage on the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Central China Television, and National Public Radio. It has also been highlighted in The Guardian, The Independent, The Economist, New Scientist, World Finance, and Fast Company, among others. It hasalsobeenafocusoftalksIhavegivenatTED,theSkollWorldForum,and theGlobalPhilanthropyForum. Above all, we are incredibly grateful to Stephanie and Hunter Hunt, not onlyforfundingthisresearchbutalsoforbeingterrificfriends,collaborators, andadvocatesforourwork. We are thankful for the support of our other colleagues at the Refugee Studies Centre, especially Tamsin Kelk for dedicating so much time to com- municationsrelatingtotheproject,andherpredecessor,IanMcClelland. WithinandbeyondOxford,wehavealsobenefitedfromtheadvice,guid- ance, and support of many friends, colleagues, and students. These include Jean-François Durieux, Alex Aleinikoff, Paul Collier, Kathleen Newland, MichaelDoyle,ChristianeAmanpour,GregoryManiatis,EmilyPaddon,Erik Abild, Emily Arnold-Fernandez, Sasha Chanoff, Kate Weaver, Faith Nibbs, Meredith Byrne, Pamela Hartigan, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Joanna Macrae, Eva Csaky, Mikey Tomkins, Jim Hollifield, Jim Hathaway, Jane viii Preface McAdam,ThomasThomsen,TanyaMeurer,JamesMilner,RanAbramitzky, ThomasGinn,TinoCuellar,EricaHarper,VladGozman,andJaneWales. WeareimmenselygratefultoAdamSwallowatOxfordUniversityPressfor showing such enthusiasm for this project and ferrying the book through to publication. Finally,theauthorsallhavepeopleinourlivesthathaveenabledallofusto commit thousands of hours to the research behind this book—Emily, Alex, Helena,andAkiko. AlexanderBetts April2016 ix
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