The Peasant Economy of Refugee Resettlement in Eastern Sudan

Abstract

This study seeks to contribute to the growing literature on migration in developing countries by placing refugee resettlement into the larger context of social transformation in agrarian societies. Eastern Sudan has experienced a massive influx of refugees during the last twenty-five years as a consequence of the longest war in postcolonial Africa. This case study examines the process of resettlement by conceptualizing the mechanisms of accumulation and impoverishment that structure the economy into which refugees have moved from Eritrea. The socioeconomic processes of differentiation and commoditization associated with agrarian change are important mediators of the interaction between incoming refugees and the host community. I argue that it is in explicating the position of refugees in the social relations of production that one can understand why some refugees become markedly better off during exile while others remain destitute. Most Eritreans are forced to survive at the bottom of a new social and economic hierarchy. Faced with debilitating tenure relations, their main asset is their labor, but rigid agricultural wages have brought them decreasing returns over time. Added pressure exerted by the environment is apt to hasten the marginalization of refugees in Sudan and mitigate against a large-scale, spontaneous repatriation back to Eritrea. Data collected during 1986-87 and 1992 include survey research questionnaires, pastoral and scheme management studies, participant observation, and interviews with key actors and informants on-site as well as with members of the institutional hierarchy outside the immediate field site.

The Impact of Social Protection on Resettlement of Displaced Persons: Evidence from Post-Conflict Northern Uganda

“…Long periods of conflict and displacement discourage resettlement and encourage assimilation of displaced persons in secure environments. Bascom () and Jansen () find that after long conflicts, displaced persons tend to settle in urban areas because of availability of paid employment opportunities. Bozzoli et al () find that camp residency in Northern Uganda has a significant influence on the choice of economic activity.…”

The ‘alien invasion’ in South Africa: Illegal immigrants in Durban

“…Reitzes (1994) called for a multi-pronged policy approach to address illegal immigration in South Africa. The international literature has also focused on refugees (Black, 1991;Bascom, 1993;Wood, 1994).…”

A General model of refugee migration; home, desplacement, and host- related factors in the resettlement of Somali refugees in Ottawa.

“…Bascom identifies the temporal factor as an important resettlement variable in refugee resettlement, but he looks at the duration of exile without differentiating between time in flight and time in resettlement (Bascom 1993).…”

“…Nonetheless, each of the source models presented transferable constructs useful for the examination of separate but not totally distinct refugee movements and resettlements in diverse contexts. By combining concepts from refugee models proposed by Kunz (1981), Rumbaut (1991), and Bascom (1993), this study makes a modest contribution to the construction of a general model of refugee migration. Along with factors contained in all three models, the general model of refugee migration comprises home, host, and displacement-related variables contributed by Kunz (1981); the typology of refugee household motivations offered by Rumbaut (1991); and flight factors, refugee attributes, and resettlement outcomes presented by Bascom (1993).…”

“…The realist integrationists generally expressed optimism that they could overcome economic and professional marginalisation through educational success, cooperative community development, and voluntarism to gain Canadian experience and job skills. (Bascom 1993).…”