May 13, 2019

Does refugees’ self-reliance policy really work?

located:	Kenya, Uganda
editor:	Bob Koigi

With a burgeoning number of the refugee population occasioned by growing conflict and natural disasters across the globe, there is an increasingly new approach being championed by aid agencies and the international community to have refugees pursue small businesses, farming and jobs that will allow them to become self-reliant and avoid over-dependence of aid. All the while international aid taps dry, and humanitarian assistance continues to focus on emergencies. 

But while at face value the approach seems commendable and sustainable, the danger it poses to the refugees and host communities cannot be ignored.

The approach clusters refugees as one unit, disregarding the fact that as is the case with any society, the community has people with different educational backgrounds, skills, disabilities, and even caretakers of children and old people. There is also the often bigger threat of conflict between the host communities and the refugees in competing for jobs and resources. Such has been the case in Kenya’s Daadab Camp, one of the world’s largest, where intermittent crashes have been witnessed as locals compete for work with what they consider 'aliens'.

The dangers also apply to countries which are considered refugee-friendly, such as Uganda, where refugees who have set up businesses struggle to access markets.

While self-sufficiency remains a plausible alternative as funding becomes limited and priorities change, policymakers should involve refugees while advocating for policies that understand when self-sufficiency should be introduced, and how to strike a balance between aid and empowerment. This way the transition to standing on their own is smooth, and the interests of the funding communities are also taken into consideration.    

Photo: World Vision