The Economics of Hosting Refugees : A Host Community Perspective from Turkana
In 1991, thousands of South Sudanese boys walked into Kenya. Having fled war in their own countries, about 20 thousand of these "lost boys" first tried taking refuge in Ethiopia. With no real options to stay, many were killed on their wal...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/695271488823317264/The-economics-of-hosting-refugees-a-host-community-perspective-from-Turkana http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26269 |
| Summary: | In 1991, thousands of South Sudanese
boys walked into Kenya. Having fled war in their own
countries, about 20 thousand of these "lost boys"
first tried taking refuge in Ethiopia. With no real options
to stay, many were killed on their walk back to South Sudan
or while attempting to swim the crocodile infested River
Gilo, before entering Kenya. Between 7 thousand and 10
thousand were estimated to have made it alive to Kenya at
that time, with no possessions besides the clothes on their
back. The arrival of these "lost boys" eventually
transformed how the Kenyan Government approached the issue
of refugees. The Government had allowed for the integration
of arriving refugees into the Kenyan population up until
that point. The arrival of these "lost boys"
marked the beginning of the encampment strategy in Kenya.
From that point onwards, the refugee screening process was
turned over from the Kenyan government to the United Nations
High Commission for Refugess (UNHCR) . The boys were
initially housed in a temporary camp located closer to the
Sudanese border, in the town of Lokichogio. In June of 1002,
the camp was relocated farther south to Kakuma Town, in the
central Turkana region, where it has remained since.
Flash-forward 35 years, with more than 180 thousand refuges,
the Kakuma Refugee Camp stands as one of the largest urban
settlements on the plains of Turkana. The camp currently
houses individuals from different nationalities, primarily
Sudanese, Somalis and Ethiopians. There is a significant
internal economy of goods and services, bolstered by the
goods (especially food) and public services provided by
international organizations. |
|---|