Ugandan refugees in Kenya: A community of enforced self‐reliance

Tandon, Yash

doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.1984.tb00889.x

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The Pan-African Conference on the Situation of Refugees in Africa, held in Arusha, Tanzania, in May 1979, called on participant states to 'study in detail the problem of urban refugees and recommend appropriate action' to deal with these growing populations. Yet, as Yash Tandon (1984) made clear in the context of Uganda, awareness of the phenomenon was not necessarily synonymous with sympathy and urban refugees were also often accused of being 'a scourge, an economic threat to the host country' (Tandon, 1984, p. 269). Such fears were linked to the consensus among experts at the end of the twentieth century that 'the most dramatic feature of the refugee scene in the 1990s was the globalized restriction on asylum' (Surhke, 1998, p. 396; see also Kibreab, 1996;Roberts, 1998).…”

Section: Past Perspectives On Urban Displacement and Vulnerabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban vulnerability and displacement: a review of current issues

et al. 2012

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Urban displacement is frequently portrayed as a new and unfamiliar dilemma for the humanitarian sector, yet broad awareness of its characteristics and challenges has been developing since the 1970s. In the past decade, however, there has been greater attention to, and recognition of, the implications of rapid urbanisation in the developing world. This has led to some policy development and a mounting body of NGO (non-governmental organisation) and think-tank literature on the topic. Assuming displacement to be a key lens on urban vulnerability more broadly, this paper presents an overview of the historical development of debates on urban displacement since the 1970s. Drawing examples from the contributions in this special issue of Disasters, as well as from other sources of information on recent humanitarian responses in various contexts, it assesses the ramifications of urban vulnerability for humanitarian practitioners. The paper contends that the humanitarian sector has failed to galvanise on the issue, and has struggled therefore to employ existing knowledge and to adapt practice.

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Section: Past Perspectives On Urban Displacement and Vulnerabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban vulnerability and displacement: a review of current issues

et al. 2012

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“…Although all statements concerning the number of refugees, i.e., people who have crossed borders to seek asylum, are estimates and can be criticized as subjective (Tandon, 1984), statements that the number of refugees today is "unparalleled" are clearly false (Gordenker, 1987: 52). Post-World War II Europe accommodated far greater numbers than any source claims exist today.…”

Section: Refugees: From Individuals To Massesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repatriation: Under What Conditions Is It the Most Desirable Solution for Refugees? An Agenda for Research

Harrell-Bond¹

1989

African Studies Review

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…What excites me…is the presence of refugees amongst us who have arrived here straight from refugee camps. It strikes me as quite extraordinary that we should be hailing this as such an innovation. But innovation it is. I would hope that experts will never again have the effrontery to sit down together to discuss refugees without refugees being present, but I doubt it. Refugee work remains, perhaps, the last bastion of the ultra-paternalistic approach to aid and development. It is hard to think of another area where the blinkered nonsense of the “we know what's best for them” approach survives so unchallenged. Mark Malloch-Brown, as quoted in Harrell-Bond and Karadawi (1984) I believe that if you want political action, you must get governments together. Their deliberations will be the springboard for action. In my opinion, it is quite unrealistic to expect them to meet together with individual refugees (or groups representing refugees) and NGOs [non-governmental organizations]. Where the adoption of recommendations for political action is concerned, it does not work like that. Eagles don't consort with sparrows. It's a law of nature. Anon. …Thanks for your copy of the [above] letter. Eagles: birds of prey, prone to wander alone, high above the world of everyday events, remote, lofty and unadapted to human civilisation. Sparrows: friendly, sunny, engaged birds, spending time in social intercourse, feet on the ground, contributing to variety of life and human happiness. Of the three “durable” solutions to refugee situations—voluntary repatriation, integration, and resettlement—the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) proclaims voluntary repatriation to be the most desirable.

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“…This generated a level of self-sufficiency among some refugees who became critical social safety nets for their less fortunate relatives and friends. As Tandon (1984) points out, the self-sustaining among refugees supported the unemployed kith and kin, thereby breaking the chain of virtual dependency of refugees on relief aid, which became the bane of Kenya's relief industry in the 1990s. The prevailing thinking in the 1970s and 1980s was that refugees in the urban areas "were a forgotten group as far as international assistance is concerned (Refugees, May 1983).…”

Section: Local Relief System Prior To 1990mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of its affiliates such as the CPK continued to run their own refugee programs (Pirouet, 1979). These splits led to disintegrated response mechanisms, came with accusations of inefficiency and led to disaffection and restiveness among refugees (Pirouet, 1979;Tandon, 1984). 2 Of these actors, the NCCK emerged as the most able local actor in the refugee arena.…”

Section: Indigenous Non-state Capacity and Urban Refugees Prior To 1990mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1982, the agency's budget in Kenya stood at 2 million dollars that was used to finance its various types of aid to refugees. Refugees recognised by the UN agency were given a monthly allowance of 350 Kenya shillings ($35) per family and 150 Kenya shillings ($15) for single persons 1 (Tandon, 1984). UNHCR spent a vast amount of this budget through disbursing it to local actors (Zarjevski, 1988:146-147;Nelson, 1983;Headley, 1988).…”

Section: Indigenous Non-state Capacity and Urban Refugees Prior To 1990mentioning

confidence: 99%

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