Joseph Musasizi, Dharma Arunachalam, Helen Forbes-Mewett
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Uganda hosts the largest refugee population on the African continent and the third highest worldwide. The country also has one of the world's most progressive refugee policies. Refugees are allowed to work and operate businesses anywhere in the country, which is uncommon in other African countries and beyond. Despite the large refugee population, their impact on employment and the associated dynamics remains poorly understood. This paper explores the impact of the presence of the refugee population on local employment opportunities and how it is connected to refugees’ sociocultural and livelihoods background and local refugee policies. Drawing on in-depth interviews with local hosts, government officials, and refugee agencies, we show that hosting refugees enhances opportunities and competition for jobs. We argue that refugees’ presence mainly affects unskilled locals in sectors that align with refugees’ livelihood backgrounds. The locals in distant sectors and the highly educated and experienced locals face less competition in employment. Moreover, refugees’ complementary livelihoods have the potential to minimize refugee-host competition for jobs.
期刊介绍:
International Migration Review is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal created to encourage and facilitate the study of all aspects of sociodemographic, historical, economic, political, legislative and international migration. It is internationally regarded as the principal journal in the field facilitating study of international migration, ethnic group relations, and refugee movements. Through an interdisciplinary approach and from an international perspective, IMR provides the single most comprehensive forum devoted exclusively to the analysis and review of international population movements.