Understanding everyday movements among South Sudanese refugees in Uganda

O'Byrne, Ryan Joseph (2023) Understanding everyday movements among South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. In: Informal Settlements of the Global South. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 113-129. ISBN 9781003191407

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the ongoing, contemporary, everyday movements of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. Despite the repatriation of vast numbers of refugees globally, little is known about how, when or why refugees might move again, nor the diversity of their later movements. Based in fourteen months ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in northern Uganda’s Palabek Refugee Settlement during 2017 and 2018, this chapter not only discusses the precise dimensions of refugees’ journeys, but also the reasons behind when and why South Sudanese refugees in Uganda travel to the places they go in the ways that they do. While some movements might involve crossing the international border back to South Sudan, many do not. Recognition of this inherent complexity is crucial. Although many refugees engaged in multiple interconnected journeys both within Uganda and across the border, the timing, success, and duration of such were often unpredictable. This chapter therefore argues that wider personal and historical perspectives are needed to capture and understand the full range movements undertaken. In making this argument, this chapter simultaneously demonstrates the general inadequacies of standard yet widely held discourses about the processes of return and repatriation.

Item Type: Book Section
Additional Information: List of Figures: Figure One: The main entrance to Palabek Refugee Settlement on my last day of fieldwork (November 2018). Figure Two: Public bus and private vehicle, two of the most common ways a refugee in Palabek might undertake a journey (October 2018). Figure Three: Food aid delivery during December 2017. Figure Four: A rather typical Acholi household, whether Ugandan or South Sudanese, refugee or otherwise (March 2018). Figure Five: The market near the entrance to Palabek Refugee Settlement, one of the settlement’s two largest trading areas (October 2018). Alt Text: Figure One: The barrier to the police check point is raised, allowing entry to the settlement, while in the background everyday life takes place. Figure Two: In the foreground is a large blue bus while a silver private multi-seat vehicle is behind it. Both wait to carry passengers away from the settlement. Figure Three: While children look on, sacks of maize flour and beans are unloaded from the back of a truck by refugee volunteers. Figure Four: A smooth dirt family living space contains a mudbrick, thatch roofed hut, a small outdoor latrine, and a few households items. Figure Five: A woman walking away from us down a dirt road between some small huts.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Displacement, Mobility, Refugees, Repatriation, Return Migration, South Sudan, Uganda
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DT Africa
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Divisions: Institutes and Academies > Institute of Education and Humanities > Academic Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences
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Depositing User: Ryan O'byrne
Date Deposited: 28 May 2025 08:43
Last Modified: 28 May 2025 08:43
URI: https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3731

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