Nowhere to Go: Karimojong Displacement and Forced Resettlement

Abstract

Between 2006 and 2010, thousands of Karimojong women and children moved to Kampala in an attempt to escape misery and violence at home. In 2007 the Ugandan government began to evict these people from the capital and resettle them back in Karamoja. This paper is based on data from a ten-month ethnographic project with Karimojong mothers living in the Kisenyi slum of Kampala and residents within Napak and Moroto districts, to illuminate migrants' experiences with the resettlement campaign. I address three major fl aws with the campaign: ignorance of living conditions and violence in Karamoja; the overall dehumanizing impact on the Karimojong; and inadequate programme design, resources and infrastructure.

Beyond conflict: Long-term labour market integration of internally displaced persons in post-socialist countries

“…First, left without shelter, land and livestock, IDPs will spend disproportionately large amounts of time making sure that the basic needs (food, shelter) of the household members are satisfied. Activities here will range from dealing with administrative institutions to begging (Bobic, 2009;Calvi-Parisetti, 2013;Steffen, 2012;Sundal, 2010). Time spent catering for basic needs comes at the expense of working, searching for work and training, and from this perspective one would expect IDPs to be less likely to engage in labour market activities relative to nondisplaced people.…”

“…Third, locals may resent the fact that IDPs receive humanitarian aid/ government assistance that is denied to them; local populations can effectively find themselves less well-off than the displaced (World Bank, 2016). Furthermore, members of host communities may have developed stigmatised perceptions of IDPs ('lazy', 'criminals', 'peasants', 'not truly displaced') and discriminate/ have prejudice against particular groups of them, such as the racial and ethnic minorities (Feijen, 2005;Hill et al, 2006;Holland, 2004;López et al, 2011;Sundal, 2010;World Bank, 2016). Both social cohesion and a sustainable labour market integration of IDPs in such environments would be compromised.…”

From Informal Settlements to Formality: A Resettlement Group's Adaptation to a Newly Planned Community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

“…Anthropologists, for years, have studied how forced displacement, either due to refugee resettlement, gentrification, or internal displacement, has caused the poor to transform and develop coping mechanisms in accordance with their new urban environment, which at times can be dangerous and unforgiving to newcomers (Smith, ; Sundal, ). Sundal (), in her assessment of internally displaced Karimojong women and children living in slums in Kampala, showed how they were consistently abused and attacked by other Kampala residents who feared that the displaced people brought crime and disease into the area. The internally displaced resettlement experiences included “economic, sexual and physical abuses” (Sundal, :72).…”

“…Sundal (), in her assessment of internally displaced Karimojong women and children living in slums in Kampala, showed how they were consistently abused and attacked by other Kampala residents who feared that the displaced people brought crime and disease into the area. The internally displaced resettlement experiences included “economic, sexual and physical abuses” (Sundal, :72). Rebecca Frischkorn, in her article in this volume, discusses how refugees in Lusaka, Zambia, found ways to navigate the urban landscape, despite their refugee status, and to acquire services from the city without adequate identification.…”

“…Cernea () discussed how the impact of resettlement on the poor can contribute to patterns of joblessness, food insecurity, social disarticulation, and loss of access to common property. Sundal () talked about the dehumanizing effects of displacement and the lack of income‐generating activities that await resettled people in their new area. In this sense, communities that have practiced forms of reciprocity and redistribution invariably lose this capability when they are forced from their homes.…”