Emergency refugee camps
Emergency refugee camps
The chapter explores the economic lives of refugees in an emergency context by examining the Rwamwanja settlement, created in 2012 to address the mass influx of Congolese refugees fleeing violence in North Kivu. This situation, which emerged at the start of this research, offered an interesting methodological opportunity to examine the economy of a ‘new’ camp and its trajectory over time. Rwamwanja contrasts notably with the other settlements. It has the lowest average incomes and highest levels of dependency. Yet, gradually, economic activity has emerged, initially through a handful of innovative entrepreneurs using international assistance or capital brought with them to establish businesses. This in turn has driven the growth of the surrounding local economy. The chapter describes the life of refugees in this emergency camp and its underlying governance structures, before examining the camp economy’s evolution and the variation in economic outcomes that has occurred even under restrictive conditions.
Keywords: emergency, refugee camps, Rwamwanja, Congolese refugees, M23, Democratic Republic of Congo
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
