Humanitarian Patterns of the Camp: Order, Spacing and Protraction in Kyaka II

Schmidt, Hannah

doi:10.1007/978-3-658-41650-8_4

Hannah Schmidt²

Abstract

Linking the literature on encampment with the local specifics of Kyaka II, Chapter 4 discusses the national and humanitarian structures that both shape the camp's arrangement as well as its inhabitants' practices. By exploring legal regulations, spatial boundaries, and temporal nature of the camp, elusive notions of 'structures, rules, and resources' become specified. It reveals how institutionalized characteristics, such as spatial confinement, a rigid layout, and limited decision-making access, are implemented by local authorities based on rules and resources determined elsewhere. Overall, it demonstrates how Kyaka II embodies the materialization of the political and legal positioning (and exclusion) of refugees which is not limited to this particular site but applies to camps worldwide. In effect, despite promoting self-reliance, the camp maintains a paternalistic view of refugees as aid recipients. The findings highlight the challenges refugees face within this framework, contributing to our understanding of refugee camps and their impact on agency and well-being.

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Notes

1.
Since the country was under British colonial rule until 1962, this refers rather to the social experience of hosting people than constituting a note on the political decision to provide protection.
2.
Retrieved from the Uganda comprehensive refugee response portal, issued by UNHCR and the OPM and accessible online at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/country/uga (last accessed 23 February 2022).
3.
In 2016 UNHCR counted 28,397 people living in this camp (2017: Annex Table 16), whereas in 2017 it identified 32,589 people now being registered there (UNHCR 2018b: Annex Table 16).
4.
The plot size was reduced from 50×50 square metres to 30×30 m² (more on this later).
5.
However, these rights are not always accessible to refugees due to the drawn-out procedures for obtaining related permits (Krause 2021: 219–20).
6.
FGD, DR Congo, 10M, Sweswe, 24/11/2016, Kyaka II; DR Congo, M, C, Byabakora, EED, 19/11/2016, Kyaka II.
7.
DR Congo, M, Ntababiniga, EED, 16/06/2017, Kyaka II.
8.
on the zones and clusters structuring the camp, see Section 4.3.2 below.
9.
DR Congo, M, I, Byabakora, EED, 11/11/2016, Kyaka II.
10.
U, EI, OPM, Base Camp, 18/11/2017, Kyaka II.
11.
DR Congo, W, B, Bujubuli, EED, 15/11/2016, Kyaka II; FGD, MN, 10 W, Bukere, 16/11/2016, Kyaka II.
12.
DR Congo, M, C, Byabakora, EED, 19/11/2016, Kyaka II.
13.
DR Congo, M, R, Bukere, EED, 13/11/2016, Kyaka II.
14.
DR Congo, 2 W, reception centre, EED, 06/12/2016, Kyaka II.
15.
DR Congo, M, I, Byabakora, EED, 11/11/2016, Kyaka II.
16.
DR Congo, M, I, Byabakora, EED, 11/11/2016, Kyaka II.
17.
Or backwards given that ordering refugees through ‘work’ has been a mode of classification by UNHCR since the 1970s (Glasman 2017). Indeed, these different approaches to refugee protection do not represent a linearity but rather seem to exist simultaneously and overlapping.
18.
DR Congo, M, B, Byabakora, EED, 19/11/2016, Kyaka II.
19.
DR Congo, W, A, Byabakora, EED, 17/06/2017, Kyaka II.
20.
This was a remark made by one of my research assistants while we were discussing the transition people undergo upon entering the camp, referring to her own experience.
21.
For access see https://www.reachresourcecentre.info/country/uganda/cycle/1252/
22.
DR Congo, 3 W, Ntababiniga, EED, 16/06/2017, Kyaka II.
23.
U, EI, OPM, Base Camp, 18/11/2017, Kyaka II.
24.
DR Congo, M, Sweswe, EED, 19/06/2017, Kyaka II; DR Congo, M, B, Byabakora, EED, 17/06/2017, Kyaka II.
25.
U, EI, OPM, Base Camp, 10/07/2017, Kyaka II.
26.
Transect walk, 08/07/2017.
27.
DR Congo, M, Sweswe, EED, 19/06/2017, Kyaka II.
28.
DR Congo, M, R, Bukere, EED, 13/11/2016, Kyaka II; R, W, Bukere, EED, 13/11/2016, Kyaka II; DR Congo, M, B, Byabakora, EED, 19/11/2016, Kyaka II.
29.
DR Congo, M, Ntababiniga, EED, 16/06/2017, Kyaka II.
30.
DR Congo, M, Ntababiniga, EED, 16/06/2017, Kyaka II.
31.
DR Congo, M, n.a., EED, 11/11/2016, Kyaka II.
32.
Interlocutors described their typical daily routines and linked those with certain camp locations. The discussion of daily routines took place in ero-epic dialogues (EEDs): DR Congo, M, Ntababiniga, EED, 16/06/2017, Kyaka II, or here DR Congo, W, A, Bujubuli, EED, 15/11/2016, Kyaka II; DR Congo, W, B, Bujubuli, EED, 15/11/2016, Kyaka II as well as in the context of the transect walk, 08/07/2017.
33.
DR Congo, M, R, Bukere, EED, 13/11/2016, Kyaka II.

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Osnabrueck, Germany
Hannah Schmidt

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Schmidt, H. (2023). Humanitarian Patterns of the Camp: Order, Spacing and Protraction in Kyaka II. In: Weaving the Camp. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41650-8_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41650-8_4
Published: 14 July 2023
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-41649-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-41650-8
eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language)

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