Refugees And Patronage
A Political History Of Uganda’s ‘Progressive’ Refugee Policies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6025745 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alison Betts (0000-0002-3691-765X, corresponding author), Alexander Betts |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 120 |
| Issue | 479 |
| Pages | 243-276 |
| Publication date | 2021-04-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-9909 • E-ISSN: 1468-2621 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/afraf/adab012 |
| OpenAlex | W3156020966 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
Uganda’s self-reliance policy for refugees has been recognized as among the most progressive refugee policies in the world. In contrast to many refugee-hosting countries, it allows refugees the right to work and freedom of movement. It has been widely praised as a model for other countries to emulate. However, there has been little research on the politics that underlie Uganda’s approach. Why has Uganda maintained these policies despite hosting more refugees than any country in Africa? Based on archival research and elite interviews, this article provides a political history of Uganda’s self-reliance policies from independence to the present. It unveils significant continuity in both the policies and the underlying politics. Refugee policy has been used by Ugandan leaders to strengthen patronage and assert political authority within strategically important refugee-hosting hinterlands. International donors have abetted domestic illiberalism in order to sustain a liberal internationalist success story. The politics of patronage and refugee policy have worked hand-in-hand. Patronage has, in the Ugandan case, been integral to the functioning of the international refugee system. Rather than being an inevitably ‘African’ phenomenon or the unavoidable legacy of colonialism, patronage politics has been enabled by, and essential to, liberal internationalism
Colonialism · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Elite · Independence (probability theory) · Internationalism (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · International Development and Aid · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Land for refugees
Credible fictions
The Ghost of Racism in the Contemporary Global Compact on Refugees
Tensions and coexistence
Using forced migration to foster emergence? International aid and development policies in Cameroon
Refugee Policy Amidst Global Shocks
Developing an explanatory model of alcohol misuse among South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda
Un clientélisme de façade
The uncounted and unseen challenges of refugee foster families in Kampala, Uganda
Political economy of refugees
Economic Integration between Refugee Settlements and Host Communities
Adherence to Humanitarian Aid Principles and the Conditions for Refugee Settlements in Northern Uganda
Introduction
Intent Versus Impact
Employment as a Strategic Pathway for Refugee and Host Youth Integration in Uganda
Who depends on whom? Uganda’s refugee ‘success story’, corruption and the international community
Camp Abolition
Protecting People or Promoting Ideologies? Insights From the Constitutional Asylum Dataset
Navigating conflicting integration perspectives
Efforts in Mainstreaming Gender into Uganda's Refugee Settlement Policy Approach
The il/liberal paradox
The coloniality of power in Uganda's Nakivale Refugee Settlement
| Unique citing works | 22 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 22 |