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Journal of Refugee Studies Advance Access originally published online on March 6, 2006
Journal of Refugee Studies 2006 19(2):143-157; doi:10.1093/jrs/fej017
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Journal of Refugee Studies Vol. 19, No. 2 © The Author [2006]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Articles

Buufis amongst Somalis in Dadaab: the Transnational and Historical Logics behind Resettlement Dreams1

Cindy Horst

University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt), Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam, Netherlands c.horst{at}inter.nl.net

The Somali word buufis is commonly used in the Kenyan refugee camps of Dadaab, referring to a person's dream of resettlement. It is an ambiguous phenomenon, bringing hope and remittances into the camps but also removing investments from the region and, when the dream cannot be reached, sometimes having adverse psychological effects. Buufis is triggered by the fact that, due to transnational flows of remittances and information, refugees in remote camps like Dadaab can compare their lives in the camps to those of others elsewhere. This illustrates how the opportunities, constraints, hopes and dreams that refugees experience locally are often determined by transnational factors. Whereas the resettlement dreams analysed in this article are thus likely to occur in other contexts as well, it is argued that they are more intense and elaborate amongst refugee communities with a strong culture of migration, like the Somalis.

Key Words: refugee camps • resettlement • Somali refugees


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