Urban Refugees and Integration in Lusaka, Zambia
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© COPYRIGHT by Rebecca Suzanne Frischkorn 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Dedicated to the refugees of Lusaka, Zambia. WE JUST AREN’T FREE: URBAN REFUGEES AND INTEGRATION IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA BY Rebecca Suzanne Frischkorn ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the local integration of refugees in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. The Zambian government, like the majority of host countries in southern Africa, has instituted policies that discourage the long-term integration of refugees by isolating them in camps and settlements until they can be returned to their country of origin and strictly limiting the number of refugees allowed to live in urban areas. However, acting contrary to government policies and even the structures of international refugee assistance programs, refugees themselves assert the right to remain in Lusaka by simply ignoring policy and staying. Particularly in the dynamic and often weakly structured space of urban areas, this leads to questions about how refugees are being incorporated into local communities. In the absence of legal mechanisms and rights, what economic, social and cultural processes and means are available to accommodate refugees, and alternatively, what processes and means exist to increase their exclusion and insecurity? This dissertation considers the integration of refugees in cities by evaluating the mechanisms that both facilitate and obstruct the process of settling into and becoming part of the local community. It also examines levels of integration through evaluation of urban refugees’ livelihoods and standards of living; access to housing, markets and social services; conflict and discrimination; and social and cultural connections. The refugee’s choice of local integration is carried out through a variety of strategies to create a sense of belonging in Zambian society. In ii the context of protracted refugee situations and over 50 percent of the world’s refugee population living in urban areas, this dissertation considers the extent to which such strategies have been successful as a challenge to dominant understandings of local integration and durable solutions. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Academic study often feels like a solitary pursuit, particularly the act of sitting at a desk amidst piles of books, papers, and data and facing the seemingly impossible task of finding some meaning in it all. However, this end product is proof that it would not have been possible without the help, support, and love of so many people. I am deeply indebted to all those, both near and far, who helped carry me through this process. That I am here now with a completed dissertation is testament to my academic advisor and dissertation chair, Dolores Koenig, and her perceptive and constructive insights when I needed them most, constant prodding, unending support, and combination of long suffering and surly impatience. Thanks also to my committee members, Brett Williams and Geoffrey Burkhart, for their time, interest, and thoughtful feedback. It was the American University Department of Anthropology that made my graduate studies financially possible and provided the academic foundation and community of graduate students, professors, and friends to bring me to this end. My field research in Lusaka was made possible through a Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship. While I am deeply grateful for its financial support and material connections provided in Zambia, Fulbright is in no way responsible for the conclusions I present in this dissertation. I am equally thankful for my Fulbright sisters, Dara Raskin and Shana Warren. Together we struggled through our respective research projects in Lusaka, supported one another, and remained friends through it all. I continue to rely on your advice, last-minute chapter read-throughs, and trips to New York City. I am astounded and grateful to the many refugees in Lusaka who entrusted their personal histories and details of daily life to me. That is a responsibility I have taken very seriously and this dissertation is dedicated to you. Your joys, heartache, perseverance, and struggles remain in my heart. I cannot thank enough the many refugees and Zambians who provided entry into the iv world of urban refugees and acted as my research assistants, guides, translators, mentors and interlocutors during this journey: Christina, Mike, Leonard, Albert, Timothy, Gordon, Vast, Mama Augustine, Beatrice, Oliver, Kayeye, Yokwe, and so many more. Upon my return to Washington, DC, Namaste House provided a safe place to transition from the hectic life of Lusaka and research to the more tedious work of writing and reflecting. Thank you for being patient with my late nights, excessive cleaning and furniture rearranging, and last minute panics. This dissertation is equally the product of all the encouraging words, sage advice, proofreading, thoughtful comments, and edits received via g-chat, Skype, phone calls, conversations, text messages, and track changes. Thank you Kelly Ernst, Jodi Barnes, Tiwanna DeMoss, Michelle Marzullo, Siobhan McGuirk, Brittany Davis, Katie Albert, and Leena Samuel for being integral to this final product. I have been blessed with parents who support me whether traveling to unknown countries or spending too many years in graduate school. Richard and Karen Frischkorn have unfailingly and unwaveringly believed in me and that has made all the difference. Finally, I met and married Edward Rumsey while writing this dissertation. None of this would have been completed without your unconditional faith in me, encouragement, and love, even when it seemed like this project was going nowhere and when I was at my most stressed and grouchy. Thank you for bringing me food, being my cheerleader, and waiting this out. I can’t wait for the next step in our journey. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv! LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x! LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xii! LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... xiii! Chapter 1. TIRED OF THIS REFUGEE NAME: PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS, LOCAL INTEGRATION, AND URBAN SPACES ................................ 1 The Concept of Integration ..................................................................................... 3! Definition of Durable Solutions .................................................................. 5! Integration in Practice ............................................................................... 10! Refugee Integration in an Urban Context ............................................................. 15! Barriers to Integration ............................................................................... 16! Facilitating Integration .............................................................................. 21! Challenges to Integration: The Case of Lusaka, Zambia ...................................... 24! Chapter Overview ................................................................................................. 27! 2. UNDERSTANDING LUSAKA: URBAN GROWTH AND INFORMALITY .............. 30 History of Lusaka: The Spatial Layout ................................................................. 31! Life in the Compounds and Informality ................................................................ 39! 3. FINDING REFUGEES IN LUSAKA: RESEARCH METHODS ................................... 44! Research Challenges ............................................................................................. 45! How to Find Refugees in the City......................................................................... 49! vi Learning about Refugees ...................................................................................... 54! Survey Data ........................................................................................................... 56! Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................................. 57! Profiling Urban Refugees: Who is Living in Lusaka? .......................................... 60! Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 64! 4. BOUNDARIES OF LEGAL INTEGRATION: THE POLITICAL FRAMEWORK OF REFUGEE HOSTING IN ZAMBIA ............................................... 65! Nation Building, One Party Rule and Refugees: 1964-1991 ................................ 66! Kenneth Kaunda and the 1st and 2nd Republic .......................................... 66! Liberation Wars and Refugee Hosting ...................................................... 73! Multi-Party Democracy, UNHCR and the Refugee Burden: 1992-2007 ............. 83! Democratization and Liberalization .......................................................... 83! Role of UNHCR and Durable Solutions ................................................... 88! Refugee Burden and Urban Refugees ..................................................... 105! Conclusion .........................................................................................................