Refugee Integration between a Rock and a Hard Place: Challenges and Possibilities of Local Integration as a Durable Solution for Eritrean and Somali Refugees in Ethiopia

Abstract

This study examines the challenges and possibilities of local integration for
urban refugees by comparing two refugee groups (Eritreans and Somalis) in
Addis Ababa. A qualitative research methodology was employed and semistructured interviews with refugees and host communities as well as key
informant interviews with the Administration of Refugees and Returnees Affairs
(ARRA) and local authorities were conducted. In addition, focus group
discussions (FGDs) with refugees and host communities of the study areas were
held. The respondents for both interviews and FGDs were purposively selected.
The historical and ongoing relations between Ethiopia and the refugee
producing countries, a structural factor, impacted not only the country’s policy
direction towards the refugees’ but also the refugees’ and hosts’ perceptions of
local integration. The study revealed that Somali refugees are more integrated
in the host communities than Eritrean refugees in the respective areas despite
the cultural compatibility of the latter because of the interplay of structural,
refugee and host community related factors.